Yellow-billed Loon Returns?

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I am passing on some info from veteran Baltimore-area birder Paul Noell,
who is not Internet-connected.

He, and another birder, saw an "anomalous" loon at Loch Raven today
Friday 01/09 around 4 PM, that sounds like the alleged Yellow-billed
Loon. He saw it from the same area north of the first bridge on Loch
Raven Dr. described in the earlier postings. He said the bill was pale,
with no darkness on top and an apparent gap between the two mandibles.
The bill appeared large, but not particularly upturned. He couldn't see
any obvious dark "ear." He thought the dark areas of the head and neck
were lighter than the back (which had a light-dark pattern) and possibly
brownish. The head had two "knobs." The overall feel was that it was not
a Common Loon. All of which makes it a  … Yellow-billed Loon?

I hope I am conveying Paul's descriptions correctly. It sounds like this
may be the original bird (which I myself did not see). Therefore, you
may want to check it out. Bear in mind the frustrating weekend closure
of the road from 10:00 AM on as previously described on the VOICE, etc.

Steve Sanford

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