My first Common Loon Gavia immer
of the season was at Benbrook Lake, near Fort Worth, Texas on
October 27, 2003. At rest it looked to be fairly typical of an
adult, having an unmarked blackish back and hindneck. However,
when it took off, it showed an obvious dark vent strap. In November
2002 I had agonized over a distant loon that was probably a small
Common, but eventually it flew straight over me and it had an
obvious vent strap, leaving me wondering if it might have been
a bulky Pacific, as I could find no reference to Common Loons
having a vent strap. Now that I have obtained photos of this 2nd
such bird, I've searched the WWW for images - I could only find
two that showed the vent, and both were unmarked:
