ML613911738

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

A curious looking loon that I first saw right off the pier as I was walking towards the end of it. Immediately I thought it was a Common due to its size and proximity to the pier, but upon seeing it through my camera viewfinder I noted the very clean and smooth border between the light and dark of the neck. Still, structurally it appeared more like a Common to me, with a bill noticeably larger than I’m used to seeing on Pacific. The back was entirely black, with an almost glossy color to it. The forehead was very flat, with a peak behind the eye. I believe that is traditionally more associated with Arctic, but is in no way a reliable mark and may be the result of this bird preparing to dive (I see that a lot in diving ducks). I only managed one photo as it was preparing to dive, perhaps explained the aforementioned head shape. Regrettably I did not note if it had white flanks; I saw clearly white sides but given the unusual water clarity, I may have just seen the underparts underwater; and the bird’s position in the photo has its flanks under the water as well. It resurfaced after a minute or so rather far from its original location, and there I definitely noted a bunch of white (COLO-esque), though again I can’t recall if it was above or below the water. Unfortunately it dove almost immediately, evading a second photo and disappeared for the remainder of my stay. Admittedly I did not make a great effort to refind it; the possibility of an Arctic lingered in my mind, but I mostly passed it off as probably a weird Pacific, and focused more on the search for Alcids. TLDR; Pacific/Arctic Loon with overall structure and heavy bill like that of Arctic, but only one photo obtained and white flanks not definitively seen, so will likely have to remain a slash.

Technical information

Model

COOLPIX P1000

ISO

200

Focal length

395 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/7.1

Shutter speed

1/500 sec

Dimensions

791 pixels x 481 pixels

Original file size

67.85 KB