We get a decent migration of birds through BC and while these pictures have been collected over the last few years rather than taken this spring, its a good opportunity to share a few of the species of loons which we've seen out West.
This red-throated loon (easily identified by its white neck :P ) was in non-breeding plumage and stayed in the same little marina in False Creek for about 2 months in the very early spring of 2013. It was a pleasant daily sighting on my lunchtime walks and stuck around town until the very day I went to photograph it after which it swam upstream and didn't return.
Tofino on the west side of Vancouver Island proved to be a great place to see pacific loons, which were pleasantly common on the water in the December trip we took up there in 2012. Once again this bird is in non-breeding plumage and not as spectacular as it would be later in the year, but was a nice sighting all the same.
Rounding out the set, we saw this common loon in spring of 2013 just outside our bedroom in Qualicum Bay. Since this sighting was right at the start of their breeding season, its got a pretty spectacular look about it, and we had a very nice opportunity to photograph and watch it while it dove for fish nearby.
