Just after noon today, Oct 11th, I was reading along the shore of Lake=20 Bemidji when I saw an adult Pacific Loon from the BSU campus. The lake was extremely still and it was easy to see any bird on it. I first saw it a= bout 400 feet out. First I thought it was just a common loon but it seeme= d too small and smaller then any common loon I have seen from this spot o= ver the last month and a half. When I looked at it through binoculars it = indeed was a small loon and looked to be a Pacific. It steadily swam clos= er to shore. It eventually was within twenty feet of the BSU dock, puttin= g it about only 80 feet from the shore and me. By this time it was clear = it was a Pacific Loon and separated it from being a Red-throated by the c= ontrast between the white throat and the thick brown hindneck stripe, the= all brown unmarked back and the eye was not separated from the brown cap= . The loon was actively diving and out of 15-20 dives I got to see the ve= nt strap clearly 3 times. Also visible was a chin strape, but it didnt se= em complete. There was one female common merganser also swimming and divi= ng off the dock, the merg and the Pacific were identical in size. I only = had my binoculars with me at the time and decided to go and get my scope = and camera since the bird was being so cooperative. It took me 25 minutes= to get back and by that time the loon wasnt near the dock anymore. It to= ok five more minutes to refind the loon as it had gone back out into the = lake a few hundred yards and I watched it until 1:00.
I refound the loon again between 2:15 and 2:45. It spent the entire time in the same area well out on the lake. I didnt see any additional field=20 markings from that distance but did get to see the comparison of this=20 loon to a few common loons that swam by it. The size difference was easy to= see between the two with the common loons being significantly=20 larger. The pacific's bill was also finer and its back a darker brown plus the different neck patterns. This evening I went back to the lake and the conditions were ideal. I watch= ed the bird from 4:45 to 5:30. The great evening sunlight cast excellent = lighting on the loon. The back of the bird was still an unmarked very dar= k brown, but the back of the neck and head now showed a light brown tinge= . It wasnt diving as much anymore except when boats passed by and would o= ften stand up in the water and flap its wings. The contrast between the p= acific's white foreneck and the rest of the body was much sharper and def= ined then with a common loon. It came closer to shore then the last few s= ightings and gave me the oppurtunity to take a few decent photos through = my scope. When I last left the bird it had swam farther out and towards t= he south side of the lake. Bill Unzen Bemidji State University
