It was midafternoon by the time I decided to go out and look for loons, but the day was mild, and the wind barely whispered, and the sun streamed over West Hill, so I made my first stop at the Ithaca Yacht Club. A scope sweep revealed fifteen scattered COMMON LOONS, some DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, including several flocks flying across my view, plus a few gulls (close by I saw both RING-BILLED & HERRING) on the water. There was also a/the duo of female BLACK SCOTERS tight together far away toward Portland Point. But what held my attention for the longest time was a loon that seemed to be close to the far shore, diving for long periods then swimming on the surface for a few seconds, always going south. It would travel about three 60-power scope view widths during a dive before surfacing, so it was a challenge to refind it, and then the view was small and of short duration.
What I saw was: a low body, dark gray with sometimes a small bit of light flank; a neck that was long (compared to Common Loon) and vertical (compared to Double-crested Cormorant); a head that was not bigger than the neck; a bill that appeared slanted upward; the hindneck and crown were an even medium gray, lighter than the back; when it rarely turned more to face me it showed the chin/lower face was whitish; the foreneck was light gray; there was neither a distinct vertical line of contrast on the side of the neck (as on Pacific Loon) nor any jagged pattern (as on Common Loon); sometimes a bit of the white breast showed near the waterline; the bill seemed perhaps large, which may have been an illusion from the adjacent whitish chin or my mind's eye presuming an upper bill atop what I actually saw.
Although the shape (other than the possibly large bill) and color pattern indicated a juvenile RED-THROATED LOON, I wanted a closer view, so I drove around the south end of the lake and parked along East Shore Drive just where it begins to climb the hill. From there I walked north about a mile along the railroad tracks, and I refound the bird. It was farther away from shore than I hoped, and backlit as I expected, and now it was working its way north, but my new perspective was helpful: the silhouette better revealed the bill to indeed be thin and small and slanted up. Also five Double-crested Cormorants alit in the water nearby, and they were considerably larger, with thinner neck slanted backwards, wider head than neck, andshowing a hooked bill even at that distance. Also a Common Loon was doing a similar northbound diving/swimming routine but its short thick neck, large blocky head, and thick bill were distinct, so I felt good about being able to differentiate the species.
I kept walking north, yet was not perceptibly gaining on the Red-throated Loon. I had just quit walking and started to post my (re-)find to the listserv, when I heard a distant whistle from Ithaca, probably right when I made that typo. Fortunately our trains are pretty slow. I don't think I was in any danger - there are plenty of places one could stand far enough from the tracks, but I did not wish to be stranded alongside all that noise, so I hoofed it back with time to spare. I hope others get to see this bird, but unless it starts cooperating a bit more, you'll need excellent conditions as I had this afternoon. I figure this could be the same bird which Jay saw at Myers many days ago, and perhaps which Bob refound there.
--Dave Nutter
On Nov 01, 2011, at 05:16 PM, 6072292...@vtext.com wrote:
RED-THROATED LOON juv far e of Ith Yacht Clubjm also far fr RR midway betw E Shore & Portland Pt
--Dave Nutter
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