Hi, folks, First of all, thanks to all those who sent me info on the RHWO - saw just one immature, but it was enough. Saw the Kelp, too, which was nice. Saw both expected loons, and one other: The bill was far too heavy to be Red-throated Loon. The lower mandible (but not the upper) was very distinctly upcurved. The thing that drew my attention was the fact that the bill was bi-colored, which I've never seen before, and which doesn't show up in any loon in Harrison, NG, or Peterson. The distal end was yellow-ish, the proximal end was dark - maybe black. The eye was very dark, possible red. The bird had a thick, but not incredibly-well defined eye ring, and a white, incomplete neck ring, not unlike that of commons. The back had some tan-ish scalloping. There were about 8 commons and one RT nearby with which to compare it, but none close enough at the time for a really direct comparison of size and bill. So what do you think? BTW, the Snow Goose was gone from Fishing Creek yesterday, and I forgot to post about an osprey at Flag Ponds yesterday. --- Wiwr@aol.com wrote: > Hi all, > > Charlie Muise just called me (3pm Wednesday) all > excited from the > Sandgates and says that he and Elizabeth Winter are > seeing a loon that > appears to be a Yellow-billed. He is hoping someone will > read this before > dark and come take a look. Oh yeah, the Kelp Gull is > there too. > > danny bystrak > jug bay > ===== ****************************** Charlie Muise, Naturalist Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary Maryland, USA cmmbirds@yahoo.com "Leave the gun; take the cannoli" ****************************** __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com