ML383263251

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

***accidental for Anchorage; a juvenile generally hanging out between the islands and towards the Hillcrest Dr side of the lagoon, very actively diving. I first noticed it from the Chester Creek Trail side and thought it had pretty good YBLO potential, but it was somewhat distant and light was waning. I snapped a couple rudimentary digiscopes and rapidly repositioned myself to the west shoreline. Views were considerably better from this side with the light at my back and the distance to the bird significantly reduced. It's not the most obvious YBLO and care is certainly required to identify this species in the Anchorage area given its rarity. Characteristics noted that separate it from juvenile Common Loon: sandy-brown face with white splotches, darkish culmen only extending halfway down the upper mandible (Common Loons should always show a dark culmen to the tip or nearly so), thoroughly ivory-colored (not silvery) upper and lower mandibles outside of the dark partial culmen, and a distinctly upward-curved division between the upper and lower mandibles (but this bird did not appear to wholly hold its bill upward, a la RTLO, as many YBLOs often do). I believe Zak Pohlen managed some better photos. There are very few loons that remain in the Anchorage area these days, perhaps just the entangled Common Loon on DeLong Lake and another one or two on Otter Lake. This is the first documented record for Yellow-billed Loon within the Municipality of Anchorage. There is only one known prior sight record of a flyby bird from Point Woronzof in summer 2015.

Technical information

Model

iPhone 11 Pro

Lens

iPhone 11 Pro back triple camera 4.25mm f/1.8

ISO

125

Focal length

4.3 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/1.8

Shutter speed

1/121 sec

Dimensions

926 pixels x 608 pixels

Original file size

139.78 KB