Those would be Red-throated Loons. At the right tide you can see hundreds
there.

Ryan

On Friday, January 11, 2013, Brenda Burnett wrote:

> Hi Tweeters,
>
> I spent some time at Deception Pass State Park on Wednesday and was
> puzzled by some birds that I saw flying over the water and riding the waves
> here and there. In color and color patterns they looked like loons, though
> slightly smaller, sleeker, and paler than Common Loons. My best looks at
> them were in flight, and they looked just like the Sibley's and Nat'l
> Geographic pics of loons in flight. I wonder if they might have been
> Pacific Loons. I tried to view those that were in the water, but the wind
> was blowing so hard that my scope shook, and the birds could only be
> glimpsed briefly because of the chop in the water. I know a definitive
> i.d. isn't plausible, but a couple of questions about loons come to mind:
>
> - Do loons ever "flock"? Most of these birds were traveling individually,
> but there were a lot of them flying by (toward the pass) over a long period
> of time and dotted over a large area of water. A small-ish flock of 20 or
> so appeared in one area of water, but it was hard to see them well.
> - I think of loons as sitting solitarily on quieter waters, but there were
> none of these birds in the quieter lagoons near Deception Pass. I did see
> one briefly at Rosario, but it saw me looking and went under and never
> reappeared (aargh!). The rest were out there in the wild wind and water.
> Would loons do that?
>
> I know they were not Pigeon Guillemots--no wing patches, longer, necks,
> larger overall, solid pale-ish gray color on head, nape, back, and wings,
> pale/white throat, breast and belly. I dunno. Anyone want to venture a
> guess?
>
> Brenda Burnett
> Seattle
> beaknbird at hotmail dot com
>
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