Catchings Up

You would think that a life bird that is rare in the state would merit a post.  And I had very good intentions.  Had the bird not been in the middle of the lake and a decent photograph been possible, I swear there would have been a more recent post.  But alas, all my good intentions are worth about as much as Monopoly money.  You see, I saw a Pacific Loon on November 29.  It is now December 9th and I am just now posting about it.  Sad, so sad.
I had mad my usual run around Webster and was about to head back when two birds caught my eye.  I first thought, "loon!" but when I think that, the bird often turns out to be a cormorant.  These two passed further inspection, though, and were clearly not cormorants.  The aspect that struck me, though, was that they were clearly not the same type of loon.  One was a bit larger with a much larger bill.  This  left me two realistic possibilities for the smaller: Red-throated and Pacific.  I guess Arctic is also a possibility, but c'mon...let's be serious here.  Although the bird was distant, I could tell that the demarcation of dark and white was too distinct to be Red-throated.  The bird also never held its bill up as Red-throateds are wont to do.
So there I had it, a new life bird.  Pacific are more expected in Kansas in stark contrast to the arrangement in Michigan.  But they are still not "expected" at any time.  I was thrilled needless to say.
With time winding down and commitments keeping me from birding much the rest of the way out, it is likely that I have seen my last new species in Kansas for the year.  Not a bad year: 251 Kansas birds!