MA - YELLOW-BILLED LOON!

Yesterday we experienced an extra-ordinary day on Outer Cape Cod. Scott Surner, Brian Kane and I left the Pioneer Valley early. Our goal was to see the Yellow-billed Loon found at Race Point, Provincetown by Steve Arena about a week prior. We found the subject bird without too much trouble and then settled down to enjoy some of the best loon viewing that we've ever seen in North America. Conservative estimates of 150-200 Red-throated, 60-70 Common and 3 Pacific Loons and the Yellow-billed made for an unprecedented four loon day......not too shabby and well worth the three-mile round trip trudging through the soft sand of Race Point beach.

The spectacle was not taken for granted, not by any any means. Loon watching can be difficult at times with individuals tending to disappear for extended periods, especially when diving frequently. Race Point beach was all the more impressive as the rarities (Yellow-billed and Pacific Loons) remained on view for extended periods providing a living 'loon workshop' for anyone who might be interested in improving their knowledge of this fantastic group of birds in basic plumage.


Although it was a tough day out from Western Massachusetts, all three of us agreed that it was one of the best field experiences that we'd had in the state in recent years. On the walk back to the parking lot, I couldn't help but think about how fortunate Massachusetts is to be blessed with some remarkably good birders - 'chapeau' to Steve Arena for his excellent find and for alerting us to the excellent loon viewing currently available at Race Point.

Yellow-billed Loon - juvenile/first-winter, with Common Loon, Race Point, Provincetown, MA. March 6th, 2016.

Pacific Loon - with Common Loon n foreground, Race Point, Provincetown, MA. March 6th, 2016.

Red-throated Loon - Race Point, Provincetown, MA. March 6th, 2016.
One of several slightly tricky individuals potentially confusable with Pacific Loon.

Red-throated Loon (left)- Race Point, Provincetown, MA. March 6th, 2016.  
Same bird as above with Pacific Loon to the right.

MA - Christmas Pacific Loon - 12/25

We've just returned from a short family break to Outer Cape Cod over the early part of the Christmas period. Christmas Day was pretty miserable weather-wise with freezing drizzle for much of the day, but I was fortunate to get out to Race Point (Provincetown) and enjoy an hour of seawatching before the really poor weather moved in. For the first 45 minutes the sea was flat calm providing ideal conditions to scan for loons. When it was finally light enough to see well, I found numerous Common and Red-throated Loons in the calm conditions and then, at 07:25hrs, a nice adult Pacific Loon. The latter species is still on the state review list and one that I've encountered on only a handful of occasions in Massachusetts.

Other species of interest included large numbers of Razorbills, plus three Common Murres and a Black Guillemot. These were the only alcids I could find despite much scanning for Dovekies - weather conditions just not right for them I guess. Some five Red-necked Grebes were present along with many tens of Red-breasted Mergansers and Common Eiders. All three scoters were seen though not in large numbers.

Most of the gulls I saw were flying east, possibly heading for a Pilot Whale carcass farther down the beach that we'd found the previous day - 1 adult Glaucous, 4 Kumlien's Gulls and about 6 Black-legged Kittiwakes were the most notable gulls amongst rather small numbers of the three common species.

Aside from 55 Dunlins and 35 Sanderlings I had the beach to myself for an hour until the first dog walkers arrived.

Pacific Loon - Race Point, Provincetown, MA. December 25th, 2012. Yep...horrendous and probably unidentifiable image of a Pacific Loon about 400m offshore. Digi-scoping has its limits and in completely overcast skies with drizzle, shortly after first light, this just didn't work. Below are my sketches of the bird drawn from memory shortly after the observation, and before consulting any references.

 

 

 Kumlien's Iceland Gull - Race Point, Provincetown, MA. December 24th, 2012. Second-cycle bird heading west and likely one of two second-cycle birds seen heading east on the 25th.

Common Murre - Race Point, Provincetown, MA. December 25th, 2012. Just ten meters from shore, losely associating with a flock of Red-breasted Mergansers. Two more distant birds were foraging off shore though never with the numerous flocks of Razorbills present.

 

 

 

Pilot Whale? - Race Point beach, Provincetown, MA. December 24th, 2012. Presumed Pilot Whale carcass being examined by Susannah and Matan. Probably no more than 9 feet in length and completely black in color. Curiously, the tail was completely missing and appeared to have been 'sheared' off. Several gulls were feeding on this, most of which were Great Black-back Gulls.



MA - PACIFIC LOON - 02/03

Pacific Loon - adult with male White-winged Scoter, Race Point, Provincetown, MA. February 3rd, 2010. Series of distant digi-scoped images taken from atop the dunes at Race Point, about 3/4 mile West of Race Point parking lot. The bird was swimming East and only observed for a short time (12:47hrs - 12:53hrs), and this despite frequent scanning of the ocean especially on the walk out to the point. Some fifty or so Red-throated Loons close-by provided useful comparisons, as did a handful of Common Loons.







Nick Bonomo and I spent most of the day on Outer Cape Cod enjoying a walk out to Race Point and then checking multiple spots in the Provincetown and North Truro areas. The walk to and from Race Point was highlighted by an adult Pacific Loon, detected by Nick on our return walk from the point. Despite frequent scans on the way out, we missed this one completely until we returned but it was also fascinating to see that Red-throated Loon numbers had increased on our return visit as well. Parties of up to a dozen Red-throats were scattered up to a quarter mile off-shore, totally at least 50 birds. Common Loons were far fewer. There was no strong alcid show, despite an nice NE wind but by careful scanning we found about 5 Common Murres and enjoyed a good prolonged fly-by view of Thick-billed Murre. Gulling proved to be frustrating with most flocks rather skittish, and we watched in awe as two trawlers came in off the ocean being followed by hundreds, perhaps thousands of gulls. However, Kumlien's Gulls proved to be frequent throughout the day numbering about 25 birds, most of them adult. An adult Glaucous Gull (my first adult of the winter) was at Race Point, and we later relocated the same bird at Pilgrim Lake. The latter location also held a nice assortment of Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Greater and Lesser Scaups.