After having just nabbed the luckiest moment in my birding life (being in the right place at the right time for the one day wonder Taiga Flycatcher) another life bird popped up in the Bay Area.
So I sprinted down to the Pescadero Creek mouth in San Mateo County to give a go at the reported Yellow-billed Loon. As I walked across the bridge to join a couple birders on the other side I saw a large loon in the area upstream near the bend where Joe Morlan reported seeing it the day before. I was able to make out the pale bill (especially the mostly pale culmen) and scalloped back that clinches the identification and separates this bird from the similar Common Loon. After a short hike along the creek I was able to get within 30 feet of the bird as it seemed quite oblivious to me as it continued to dine on crabs in the shallows. This afforded ample opportunity to photograph the loon (unfortunately it was backlit/sidelit the entire time).
So I sprinted down to the Pescadero Creek mouth in San Mateo County to give a go at the reported Yellow-billed Loon. As I walked across the bridge to join a couple birders on the other side I saw a large loon in the area upstream near the bend where Joe Morlan reported seeing it the day before. I was able to make out the pale bill (especially the mostly pale culmen) and scalloped back that clinches the identification and separates this bird from the similar Common Loon. After a short hike along the creek I was able to get within 30 feet of the bird as it seemed quite oblivious to me as it continued to dine on crabs in the shallows. This afforded ample opportunity to photograph the loon (unfortunately it was backlit/sidelit the entire time).
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