Re: Md. Yellow-billed Loon update

GAIL@UMDD.UMD.EDU
Fri, 13 Mar 98 19:48:24 EST


Barry and I went down to St. George Island today (March 13) to look for the
possible Yellow-billed Loon (or as Barry likes to say, White-billed Diver.
Whatever). We scoped from Evan's Restaurant and then from any accessible
point on both shores of the island, as well as the nearby Piney Point/
Seamanship School area. We saw about a dozen Common Loons but no Y-B Loon.
However, there is a lot of nearby habitat that is inaccessible due to
private property or distance, so I hope that others will continue to look.

Other birds seen include two Ospreys (our first of 1998), a Laughing Gull
(ditto), two Bonaparte's Gulls, many Oldsquaw, Common Goldeneye, and a few
Black Scoters.

For those looking for a good comparison of Common and Y-B Loon plumages at
various ages and seasons, we found Lars Jonsson's Birds of Europe to be
especially useful.

Gail Mackiernan
Silver Spring, MD
gail@umdd.umd.edu