[MDOsprey] YELLOW-BILLED LOON in St. Mary's County, MD

Jane Kostenko (jkostenko@somd.lib.md.us)
Thu, 4 Nov 1999 15:19:39 -0500


    The Sea Breeze picnic table effect has hit! Yes, the possible
YELLOW-BILLED LOON, reported November 3 by Charlie Muise was seen from the
Sea Breeze Restaurant in St. Mary's County (you remember, the crabhouse with
the Kelp Gull?) by Paul O'Brien and visiting Idaho birder John Gatchet (very
familiar with yellow-billed loons) at 12:30 today, November 4. They watched
it from across the shore until it flew off downriver at 2 p.m. (minutes
before I got there).
    Apologies in advance to Paul O'Brien for any errors (the errors will be
mine, not his) in this posting. I was scribbling notes and key words, but
one line I wrote word for word, "I feel very confident about it." -- "it"
being the ID of this loon as yellow-billed. Mind you that the loon in
question was viewed from across the river (it was in Calvert County waters
the whole time, including when it flew) and there was shimmer, which Paul
said had lessened as time passed. Conditions were/are: clear skies, mild
breeze, temps in the 50s, bright sun. Time: 12:30 p.m. - 1:55 or 2 p.m. Here
goes:

o    intermediate plumage
o    two dark brown bands on the neck, seen best when it flew. Usually only
saw one band when it was diving
o    neck was "substantial"
o    very dark/dark brown head
o    no auricular spot (Paul explained the coloration on the head that made
this, but I didn't get it all down)
o    straw yellow bill (Paul said that flash of light color (the bill) was
what first caught his eye as he was scanning the distant loons)
o    bill deep at base with sharp gonydial break halfway out
o    bill was kept upright most of the time
o    some duskiness at base, top and bottom (culmen), not at the gape
o    when it flew, Paul felt the legs and feet were light/pinkish, and gave
the impression of not being as big as the legs and feet of the common loon
    While it was too far out for this detail, what had captured Paul's
interest in this sighting was Charlie's description of the eye-ring (I
believe I've got that right, not the neck ring).
    The loon was at the Sea Breeze, but on the picnic table side of the
restaurant, and directly across the river, where there is a cluster of
buildings on a grassy slope, then a single building on a grassy slope. The
bird fed between those areas, if I've got this right.

Jane Kostenko
jkostenko@somd.lib.md.us
California, Maryland

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