A specific Pacific Loon

 

   As I have mentioned multiple times, Pacific Loon has been one of my biggest nemesis birds of my life. I said to Sue Palmer today, it is a lifer  in not just that it would be the first one I've seen in my life but also, I've spent much of my life chasing this bird ( I may not have used the word bird but rather two words that start with the letters MF).

   Pacific Loons obviously live in the Pacific. One or two occasionally makes it to Rhode Island every year. I have either always been a day late, a minute late, or I've had to work and the loon will stick around all day. This has been going on for the better part of a decade for me. It is by far "the easiest" bird I had never seen in Rhode Island. As I said, one or two will show up a year. 

   I have chased Pacific Loon four times since early November. There was one at East Beach for a week but not the two times I was there (along with Dave M one of those days). Two weeks ago I dipped on one that had been hanging at Watch Hill Light with Sue (that she originally found)

  Today was my first day off since I last tried for the loon that wasn't Thanksgiving. So I made the ninety minute drive again. The bird has never left and I hoped it would be within viewing distance this time. 

   

Even more cropped image but you can see the tell 
tale chin strap of a juvenile
Pacific Loon

   Sue spotted the bird fairly close to shore right away and I thought I had finally seen it. I forgot my memory card in the car so I took photos with Sue's camera. However, as a true nemesis I was looking at the wrong loon. So what I thought was initial success was another couple minutes of frustration. 

   Finally! I got on the right bird. I went to my car and got a memory card and took photos of it for ten minutes. Wow! that was a tough half decade (minimum) chase. 

   After I got my fill of photos Sue and I walked around and saw a Red Throated Loon wash up to shore completely exhausted. After some deliberation and a phone call I caught it and drove it to the Wildlife rehab place on my way home. It was extremely sad and I don't think the little guy will make it but I did what I could.

   So what started out as a huge win certainly ended with a dark cloud watching this poor little Red Throated Loon suffering at the end of the trip. 

The RT Loon before we realized how bad of a shape
it was in