Hi all,
While birding with the Wednesday birding group, I stumbled on a pair(!) of PACIFIC LOONS off of Marginal Way in Ogunquit. When I first saw them, they were wayyy out, perhaps at the theoretical limit of how far one could recognize than a loon wasn't a Common Loon. Fortunately, they eventually drifted a little closer in, to just within the limit that one could safely identify a Pacific Loon through a 60x scope on a cloudy, cold but windless day (which, coincidentally, happens to be the exact conditions I found myself in).
The two birds were associating with 2 Common Loons, seen from Marginal Way straight out from Briar Bank Rd, where there's a railing and a stair down to the beach. I watched them for about 30-40 minutes, and they consistently appeared slightly smaller than the nearby Common Loons, with a paler gray nape, thinner bill and straight dividing line between light and dark on the neck, not broken by a white wedge like in Common Loon. I'll be the first to admit that Pacific Loon ID is tricky and that these two birds were seen at great distance, but I've some experience with Pacific Loons out west and the distinctly smaller bill, paler gray nape, rounded head and clean line on the neck is distinctive even at a distance. I took what is perhaps the worst digiscoped video ever, but the distance was probably too great to show anything but a few blobs. Below is my ebird checklist with my description of the two birds:
Oh, and we also had 8 Harlequin Ducks, my first of the season.
Good Birding,
David Rankin
Biddeford
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