Thread: Loons are back
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Old 03-21-2012, 09:47 AM   #4
Quilt Lady
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Default I hate to rain on your parade but . . .

Looking at Steve A's pictures, the birds are not loons but mergansers. The top image shows the male merganser's typical plumage (easily mistaken for a loon but it has no "necklace" and the lower portion of the body has too much white). In the second picture, the bird on the left has the pointy feathers on the back of the head, typical of the female merganser. The middle bird is the male (note the large amount of white at the waterline).

I think it is still early for loons. We have a regular that shows up year after year. He returns around the time of a normal "ice-out" with his lady returning a week or two later. The male is checking out his territory before the lady returns for the breeding season. The males don't hang out in groups in the spring like they do in the fall. They are quite solitary at this time of year.

I'm no expert so I could be wrong. I'm still looking for "our" regular loon.
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