Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2002 22:34:13 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Frank Powers Subject: Loons at Copper Lake MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit There were 3 Loons seen on Copper Lake between 3:15pm and 4:30 pm. The first glimpse was of a juvenile Common Loon close to the shore below Kingfisher Overlook. An adult Common Loon was just beyond. The Pacific Loon was then seen in the cove to the left, diving & feeding, but still giving good looks. It was soon joined by a Common Loon juvenile (the same or another one?), giving very good size comparisons, including of its obviously smaller, slightly down-curved bill. Its head and nape were clearly lighter than its back. The color differences between the front and back of its neck contrasted sharply, unlike in the Common. And it showed a thin brown chin strap. The Common Loon juv. frequently obliged with several wing-flapping, rising in the water episodes, also giving good looks for comparison purposes. The Pacific gradually moved from the cover to not more than 20-30 feet off the shore directly in front, then moving over towards the dam to the right, and eventually following the far opposite shoreline across the lake and down to the left. It was constantly dipping under water, sometimes for great lengths and stretches of time. I was joined in the very beginning by a birder from northern Baltimore County who first spotted the Pacific Loon in the cove, while I was examing the Common Loons. Eventually 3-5 other birders joined in at various times on the shoreline, but most had come when the Pacific had moved farther away across the lake. That little fellow can, and does, move! Good birding (& thanks to all for the excellent directions), ============ Frank Powers Glen Echo, MD Montgomery County mattfp@aol.com ============ ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================