Hi folks, 

Last weekend we finally had a chance to head to Ocean City and Assateague, a much overdue first-time birding visit.  We were leaving the beach at Assateague State Park and a Loon popped up that had extensive white on it's flanks.  I had already packed my scope and binocs, but still had my camera with me.  

I grew up in Maine and Massachusetts so I've seen plenty of Common & Red-necked Loons but I don't recall seeing so much white on a relaxed Common Loon's flanks. Visions of Arctic Loons popped through my head momentarily (wouldn't that be a nice MD bird!).  I hate to ask if this is common on Common Loons, but there's really no other way to phrase it.  The sun was coming on on the right side of the photos, but the extensive white wasn't just a trick of the light.  A quick check of my guidebooks and on the internet does not reveal much of anything about white flanks on Commons.

A link to the photos is below (click on the top photo - entitled "Loon 3" and that will bring up the other photos as well).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sherseydc/

Cheers, and I'm looking forward to your opinions.
Steve Hersey
Alexandria, VA

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