--part1_0.98c0e713.2554d68d_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Mark, et al. I'll try attaching my write-up of the 11/4 YBLO sighting. It's in Simple Text. If that doesn't work, I'll just rewrite the salient details. Paul O'Brien Rockville, MD 20850 pobrien776@aol.com --part1_0.98c0e713.2554d68d_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; name="Yellow-billed Loon 11/4/99" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline; filename="Yellow-billed Loon 11/4/99" Yellow-billed Loon=0DPatuxent River Opposite Seabreeze Restaurant =0DSt. Mar= y's County, MD=0DNovember 4, 1999=0D=0DObservers: Paul J. O'Brien, Maryland= =0D John Gatchet, Idaho=0D=0DAt approximately 12:30PM I obse= rved a bird with the overall size and shape of a Common Loon, but exhibiting= a light yellow bill, floating, preening and occasionally diving in the rive= r near the Calvert Co. shoreline. It was located at the south end of a larg= e grassy area, the southern of two such grassy areas on the opposite shore. = The day was clear and bright with the sun high but behind me. My attention= was first drawn to the bill which stood out prominently, even at such a gre= at distance. I was using a Swarovski AT 80 HD spotting scope at 60 power. = Initially there was some shimmer that subsequently diminished. There were = four Common Loons working the near shore, but they never approached the YBLO= for direct comparisons.=0D=0DOverall the bird appeared to be in mid-moult f= rom alternate to basic plumage. The crown and nape were dark chocolate brow= n which did not contrast with the brown back. The throat and foreneck were = whitish with a noticable dark brown neck ring just above the water line. Th= e brown crown and nape extended below the eye and down the sides of the neck= so that the auriculars were still in a dark field. Thus the dark auricular= spot was not yet visible. The distance was too great to discern the buffy = scalloping on the back mentioned by Charlie Muise on his first observation o= f Nov. 3, nor did I notice whether the high point of the back was over the s= houlders or further back. The outstanding feature of the bird was its bill,= which was thick at the base with an apparently straight culmen. The lower = mandible was straight for about half its length exhibiting a sharp gonydeal = break upwards, thence straight to the tip. The entire length of the bill wa= s straw yellow with what appeared to be dusky areas near the base of the cul= men and the base of the lower mandible at the throat. To accentuate the upw= ard thrust of the lower mandible, the bird held its bill slightly above hori= zontal the entire time.=0D=0DAt about 1PM John Gatchet arrived to photograph= the Kelp Gull. Having spent many years along the northwest coast he had se= en many YBLOs and immediately confirmed the identification. After about 10 = minutes the bird began diving repeatedly and thereafter spent very little ti= me on the surface, which John noted was typical YBLO behavior, and of the YB= LO I observed Dec. 26, 1997 in Oswego, NY. It worked its way upstream past = the northernmost grassy area to a pair of docks. Its surface appearances la= sted only a few seconds, not enough time to get it in focus. Finally, about= 2:55, it took off and flew far downstream. At first it gained altitude and= was well above the tree line, passing two signal towers, then descended, on= ly to be lost from sight when it went below the tree line. The distance cou= ld have been consistent with the mouth of St. Leonard's Creek, where it may = have been seen the next morning by Greg Miller. In flight the bill again wa= s the most outstanding feature, but there appeared to be two dark brown ring= s on the fully extended neck. The entire underside was white and the feet p= lus an equal length of tarsus protruded beyond the tail tip. Oddly, the fee= t and tarsi appeared dusky pinkish. Whether this was a trick of the lightin= g or is some age or gender related feature is not clear. The flying bird re= sembled a Common Loon in size and shape but the flight seemed more ponderous= . The entire upper surface appeared uniformly dark. I did not notice wheth= er there were white primary shafts. = = =0D=0DPaul J. O'Bri= en=0D12 Duke St. South=0DRockville, MD 20850-1014=0D301-424-6491=0Dpobrien77= 6@aol.com --part1_0.98c0e713.2554d68d_boundary--