Thanks to Rachel for her earlier posting of the RED-THROATED LOON at Hamilton Reservoir (water supply for the Rawhide Power Plant) today, 2Dec2011. This location is north of Wellington in Larimer County and reached by going north on I-25 to Buckeye Road (Exit 288), which is about 12 miles south of the Wyoming line. Go west on Buckeye Road a few miles, turn north (right) on the main power plant road, then (in a couple hundred feet just before the controlled-access gate blocking the south end of the dam) turn left onto the Observation Overlook gravel road, and proceed to the parking lot. The loon was basically all over the east end of the reservoir (that is, east of a line drawn from the overlook to the main smokestack across the way). Like all loons, it can seemingly "disappear", travel long distances when diving, and be hard to locate. In the three hours or so I watched it, it spent about an equal amount of time loafing on the surface and diving. It is an adult in basic garb, with the eye not quite being totally isolated on the face by white. Rachel and I noted it not looking all that much bigger than some nearby male Common Goldeneyes (Sibley actually states a difference in length of just over 6 inches). The face and front of the neck gleam white in a distant view, and the upturned, upheld, gray bill (with a conspicuous thin dark line dividing upper mandible from lower) is also evident in most views. If it comes close enough, the back is speckled with white. The bird shows considerable white along the flanks at the water line. At no time does the bird appear blackish, as does the much bigger, basic Common Loon also present.
Dave Leatherman Fort Collins -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
