Subject: Arctic Loony
Date: Feb 7 15:21:20 2000
From: Sgd24 at aol.com - Sgd24 at aol.com


Tweets,
This loon was spotted this morning from the boat launch at Desert Aire. I
then watched it from the tip of the point just south of the boat launch at 26
SW. The bird was intially going about .25 mile away from the shore, giving me
the thought that I would be able to see it at close range; hope was high. As
the bird made itself slowly up the lake it veered farther out into the Yakima
side. By the time it was accross from me it stopped and was feeding on the
opposite shore. It was probably no more than 30 yards off shore on the west
side of the river. It never came further north (couldn't have been seen from
the parking lot area) and slowly began to edge back south. The water was very
still and light was slightly overcast, about the best conditions I could hope
for. The flank wwas obvious when the bird was not half-sunk into the water
(usually right before diving). The bill appeared to me to "possibly" a little
upturned. The reason I'm so non-commital is that it was at good distances and
something that detailed is hard to call at the distance. I have two
questions:
1)This bird appeared to me not to have nearly as much white extending into
the nape areas as I always thought Artics would have. How much variation is
there and how it does it differ between 1st winter birds and adults?
2)On a side view it appeared that this bird had more of a "clean cut"
neckline than Commons I'm familar with. Have others noticed this or was the
light playing tricks?

I look forward to somebody solving this mystery. I saw points that are
attributable to Artic (according to articles, considering I've never seen an
Artic before) but it was not was I was expecting an Artic to look like.
Thanks,

Scott Downes
sgd24 at aol.com
Seattle WA

To identify a species should not be enough to quench one's thirst,
a proper thirst must seek to understand every facet of the bird's
existence.