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Red-throated Loon? Lake Ontario south shore (Sodus Point, NY) 12/2/22


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1 hour ago, Avery said:

Why isn’t this a Pacific with the chinstrap and straight borders on the neck that are pushed down?

I had the same thought (we have them at a large inland lake locally in Ontario) but I checked and no records for south shore of Lake Ontario (or New York) at all.

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50 minutes ago, RobinHood said:

I had the same thought (we have them at a large inland lake locally in Ontario) but I checked and no records for south shore of Lake Ontario (or New York) at all.

I've seen one on Lake Champlain in VT and one just recently on the Tennessee River. They pass through in probably greater numbers than we think in the east from the birds that breed in the Hudson Bay

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Never considered Pacific, although I believe there was one at this location (Sodus Point NY) last year. The shot was taken at sunrise so shadows can be a factor. I will try to post more photos of this bird if I can find them.

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1 minute ago, MWM said:

Here are a few more pics, basically the same view as it was a fly-over. (All the same bird, not sure why the last 2 pics seem to show a dark collar.)

DSC_5460.JPG

DSC_5463.JPG

DSC_5465.JPG

DSC_5467.JPG

With these pics, I agree with @Charlie Spencer about the shadows. The collar appears, chinstrap disappears, both seem equally black. Pretty sure it’s caused by shadow, so I guess RTLO is the best fit. 

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Not disagreeing with Red-throated Loon here, but I wouldn't be so quick to rule out Pac Loon just from the lack of the chinstrap in the last two photos. I've seen that chinstrap appear, disappear, and appear again in the blink of an eye on PALOs before.

As an example, the two photos of this Pacific Loon shown below were taken less than two seconds apart while the lighting conditions did not change. All that changed was the angle from the bird flying past me. 

1200

1200

Edited by Aidan B
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6 hours ago, Aidan B said:

Not disagreeing with Red-throated Loon here, but I wouldn't be so quick to rule out Pac Loon just from the lack of the chinstrap in the last two photos.

Yeah, but toss in the bird being WAY out of range for a Pac, along with Commons and Red-throateds already present.  What is there to definitively support Pac and rule out the expected birds?

Edited by Charlie Spencer
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