Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 08:15:48 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Aguilera, Dianne (NCI/IMS)" Subject: "first summer" terminology MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" With the talk of the "first summer"-plumage Loons at Clopper Lake, I find myself confused over terminology. I've always assumed that "first summer" means that a bird was born (ok, hatched) in the current year and that this is its first summer in existence, so it doesn't yet have adult plumage patterns. However, with this definition, logic would tell me that the first summer loons (both Common and Pacific) at Clopper Lake hatched recently and in the vicinity of where they are right now. That seems highly unlikely, since a Pacific Loon at most anytime of year is rather rare for Maryland, let alone as a breeder. So, my logic (perhaps it's not the same as other people's logic?) tells me that "first summer" must not mean the bird's first summer in existence, but perhaps its first summer as a breeder. Well, that doesn't make sense either, because birds don't generally breed until they acquire breeding plumage (duh). This leads me to wonder which of my assumptions or logical deductions are incorrect. Can someone please clarify this for me? Thanks a bunch. Dianne Aguilera Laurel, MD - Howard County teamdandy@hotmail.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================