Date: 3/23/26 12:42 pm From: 'Clive Harris' via Maryland & DC Birding <mdbirding...> Subject: Re: [MDBirding] Previous Maryland sighting of Yellow-Billed Loon
Hi Scott
Yellow-billed Loon is exceptionally rare anywhere along the East Coast. Most states along the eastern seaboard don't have any sightings on eBird. I don't know the details of the 1999 sighting or why it wasn't accepted but I don't think a confirmed sighting now in Maryland makes a 1999 record any more likely.
In NW Europe this species is now known to be more regular than once thought - it has offshore wintering grounds that are not visited by birders much (eg the Dogger Bank in the North Sea) - and it is a regular migrant in spring off NW Scotland. But there are plenty of pelagics offshore in winter along the E coast so it seems less likely there is an unknown population wintering in the general area.
What you are saying might make more sense in situations where there is no doubt as to the ID but some concern over provenance - was it an escape or not - and where more records might suggest that it is naturally occurring. But that doesn't apply in this case.
Best,
Clive
On Monday, March 23, 2026 at 01:04:04 PM EDT, Scott Young <wsyacy...> wrote:
Now that we have photographic proof of a Yellow-Billed Loon visiting Maryland, perhaps it would be appropriate to reconsider an earlier sighting in November, 1999. It was spotted by three birders with experience with that loon from the west. They had no photographs so that’s why they think their sighting was not accepted by the records committee. What’s fascinating to me is the that 1999 sighting at Sandgates in St. Mary’s County along the Patuxent River is quite close to the present day sighting along that river! Thoughts?
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