December 29, 2020 - Yellow-billed Loon at Elgin Park

The last post of 2020 features a rare Yellow-billed  Loon, a bird typically seen farther north towards the Yukon and Alaska. This is the third time I've seen this species. The first was in 1998 and was one of my first rare-bird experiences.

Although I was lucky to get a dry day, the skies were quite gray, which was not good for photos. The bird was on the far side of the Nicomekl River. I did get a few acceptable shots.

Yellow-billed Loon - Elgin Park, Surrey BC - 2020 Bird #132

One of the distinguishing marks for this bird is the up-turned bill, which shows a bit in this shot.

Much closer and easier to photograph were a couple of common Duck species.

Mallards - Elgin Park, Surrey BC

Lesser Scaup- Elgin Park, Surrey BC

There was also a Common Loon in the area, which shows a darker bill and head.

Common Loon- Elgin Park, Surrey BC

And one last look at the Yellow-billed. Note that the Bill shows more Yellow when the bird is in breeding plumage.

This wraps up the 2020 Birding Blog. I was going to do a Best of 2020 post, but decided it would just be repeating the content already in the blog.  My species count for 2020 was 132, much less than the 180 seen in 2019. This is primarily due to the US border closure and travel restrictions related to COVID. Hopefully 2021 gets us back to normal.

I will be launching a 2021 Blog shortly, which will feature the Yellow-billed Loon again in the new year.