Elliot Kirschbaum writes, in response to a posting from Norm Saunders: > > I see from the subject line that you are hedging your bets on this one. > See the April 1997 "Birding" for comparison of Pacific and Arctic Loon. > Whatever you call it, it is a beautiful bird. Elliot, I'm not hedging my bets. I simply haven't had the time to do the necessary studying yet to make a definitive identification for myself. I'm most certainly NOT questioning the identifications already made by others. I was, however, curious as to why there had been no discussion at all here (except for the message Fran cross-posted from another list) about the possibility of the bird being an Arctic Loon. Seems like a reasonable path for the discussion to go, considering that NEITHER species is regular on the East Coast. Best, Norm =============== Norm Saunders Colesville, MD osprey@ari.net