photo by Greg Hofmann

4/19/2004: A minor flurry arose last week due to a visit by the bird above, a juvenile Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii). Veteran birder Shirley Murphy arrived at our office at 8:15 and asked me to grab my camera and get out to Kirby Park – she was pretty sure she'd just made a significant sighting and wanted some photos to confirm both the sighting and the species (this was just the 30th sighting on record for Monterey County in the last 35 years). The full rundown on local records for this species can be found on Don Roberson's excellent birding website. The Yellow-billed Loon is one of the ten rarest birds breeding in the mainland U.S.