While sitting on my bucket yesterday at 4 pm, I realized I was looking at a
loon. The light was as bad as it could be, and I kept going back and forth
between Common and Red-throated (it was also 1/2 mile away), because although it
was wildly preening the entire time, during occasional pauses it would sit with
the bill pointing up briefly, and about half the time, I thought the bill had
that distinctive RTLO shape. In the end, however, I felt that the silhouette
was more of a Common. At 8 pm it was back and the light was better. In that
view I felt I could see it well enough to say it was a non-breeding-plumaged
Common. Reading Bill's post about a COLO in Western MD makes one wonder what's
up.
Danny Bystrak
Bristol, AA Co.
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