[mou] Pacific Loon

[BillyJoe Unzen]

Just after noon today, Oct 11th, I was reading along the shore of Lake=20
Bemidji when I saw an adult Pacific Loon from the BSU campus. The lake
was extremely still and it was easy to see any bird on it. I first saw it a=
bout 400 feet out. First I thought it was just a common loon but it seeme=
d too small and smaller then any common loon I have seen from this spot o=
ver the last month and a half. When I looked at it through binoculars it =
indeed was a small loon and looked to be a Pacific. It steadily swam clos=
er to shore. It eventually was within twenty feet of the BSU dock, puttin=
g it about only 80 feet from the shore and me. By this time it was clear =
it was a Pacific Loon and separated it from being a Red-throated by the c=
ontrast between the white throat and the thick brown hindneck stripe, the=
 all brown unmarked back and the eye was not separated from the brown cap=
. The loon was actively diving and out of 15-20 dives I got to see the ve=
nt strap clearly 3 times. Also visible was a chin strape, but it didnt se=
em complete. There was one female common merganser also swimming and divi=
ng off the dock, the merg and the Pacific were identical in size. I only =
had my binoculars with me at the time and decided to go and get my scope =
and camera since the bird was being so cooperative. It took me 25 minutes=
 to get back and by that time the loon wasnt near the dock anymore. It to=
ok five more minutes to refind the loon as it had gone back out into the =
lake a few hundred yards and I watched it until 1:00.

I refound the loon again between 2:15 and 2:45. It spent the entire time
in the same area well out on the lake. I didnt see any additional field=20
markings from that distance but did get to see the comparison of this=20
loon to a few common loons that swam by it. The size difference was easy to=
 see between the two with the common loons being significantly=20
larger. The pacific's bill was also finer and its back a darker brown plus
the different neck patterns.

This evening I went back to the lake and the conditions were ideal. I watch=
ed the bird from 4:45 to 5:30. The great evening sunlight cast excellent =
lighting on the loon. The back of the bird was still an unmarked very dar=
k brown, but the back of the neck and head now showed a light brown tinge=
. It wasnt diving as much anymore except when boats passed by and would o=
ften stand up in the water and flap its wings. The contrast between the p=
acific's white foreneck and the rest of the body was much sharper and def=
ined then with a common loon. It came closer to shore then the last few s=
ightings and gave me the oppurtunity to take a few decent photos through =
my scope. When I last left the bird it had swam farther out and towards t=
he south side of the lake.

Bill Unzen
Bemidji State University