All -

Here is a web site that Jane Westervelt put together with several pictures
of the loon in question. If others have pictures please send them to her at
jwesterv at uidaho.edu or westerveltj at netscape.net so she can add the to the
site.

http://www.uidaho.edu/~jwesterv/Loonacy.html

In my judgement the loon pictured is most probably a Common Loon based on
overall shape and size of head (and to a lesser extent the bill). Also head
and neck appear to be same shade where in Pacific/Arctic the head and neck
should appear slightly lighter in color. Granted these pictures are probably
not sufficient to make a positive ID but that is the impression one gets. I
think there might be too much emphasis on white flanks in discussions of
this bird where other features seem to indicate otherwise(indeed this may
have been what prompted the initial id.).

It seems that Common Loons can be somewhat variable in fall/winter and
whenever I am unsure about a winter plumage loon initially it always turns
out to be a Common Loon. In contrast, the few Pacific Loons I have seen here
in the interior have jumped out at me right away. Other comments??

thanks, Charles.

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Charles E. Swift
Moscow, ID, USA
charless at moscow.com
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