Between 3:30 and 4:20 today 2 January, I studied what I am essentially
certain was a basic-plumaged Arctic Loon at First Landing State Park, just off
the
observation deck area there. Lighting was optimal, winds calm, seas flat.
Plenty of Common and Red-throated Loons were around for comparison. The bird
was
perhaps 150 yards off the beach; photos were taken, but the image size will
be small. I have zero experience with this species in any plumage, and so I
tender the report with some caution, but I have never seen any loon look
remotely like this one, on either Atlantic or Pacific Ocean, in 25 years of
close
attention to loons.
The bird was clearly smaller and smaller-billed than all Commons, though the
bill itself (and head) were more similar in shape to the Commons' than to
Red-throateds. The bird did not appear to be a juvenile (no pale feather
edgings
to back/covert feathers). The dorsal plumage was very dark, essentially
uniformly so, with only some faint patterning (narrow vertical lines) at the
side
of the breast where dark plumage met the white breast; the hindneck sometimes
appeared a paler dark gray at certain angles. From almost all angles, the bird
looked rather dark, with two striking exceptions: 1) a white jowl (cheek) set
off by dark crown, nape, and hindneck, with a slight dimple (incursion) of
dark that defined its lower posterior border, and 2) a great blaze of white in
the flank that extended, without exception, along the side of the bird at the
center waterline. The foreneck was white but more narrowly so than in Common
Loon. When the bird turned its neck away, the white jowl was obvious but the
white of the foreneck would vanish.
I should say that I'm aware that many Common Loons (and Pacific Loons) can
show white flanks when preening or at other times, and I see such birds
routinely, almost daily, some six or more months of the year (in the case of
Common
Loons). This bird did not resemble any such birds.
I watched the bird for about 1/2 hour as it floated around, stretched, dived,
occasionally preened. After I was satisfied that I was not looking at a
Pacific Loon or a Common Loon, I telephoned David Hughes and Tom Gwynn, to
suggest
that they consider making a trip to see the bird. [On a side note, David
mentioned that two different Pacific Loons had been seen, at the same hour, at
Fort Story and at Cape Henry (northern Va. Beach) on 31 January on the Little
Creek CBC. (I did not see the Clark's Grebe in the area, by the way.)]
What ruled out Pacific Loon, in my estimation, was not only the stark white
flank patch, which rose well above the waterline at all times, but also the
head shape, which was a bit more blocky than the Pacifics' I've seen, the heads
of which tend to appear thick (not thin or snakelike, as in Red-throated) but
generally have a uniform curvature to the crown, continuous with the curve of
the hindneck. This bird showed a more flattish central crown, with a
noticeable "bump" in the forecrown, a bit more akin to Common Loon in that
regard but
overall much less pronounced. In overall structure, then, the bird seemed a
mix of Common and Pacific, but in plumage it was closer to Pacific, though it
completely lacked a chinstrap and a vent strap, and its sides/flanks showed far
too much white (and too consistently showed white).
The bird in question very strongly resembled Arctic Loons posted on a
European website:
http://www.birdingfaqs.com/hungarianbirds/Arc-19%20Loon.JPG
The bird also resembled all illustrations I've been able to find in recent
sophisticated field guides and various articles (Reinking and Howell's "An
Arctic Loon in California" among them, though the bird in question there was a
juvenile).
I have been one of the worst doubting Thomases in regard to East Coast sight
reports of Arctic Loons (Massachusetts, Georgia, New York, even Virginia have
had reports in the past 10 years). And most of the observers who found these
birds doubted themselves, it should be pointed out. The conditions were
perfect for observation today, and I'm still incredulous that this bird was out
there, right in front of the First Landing observation platform.
I will be out there tomorrow, looking for this bird and attempting to
document it more satisfactorily.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
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