[CT Birds] Pacific Loon -- No luck (Quassy, Sat)

[JSWorkman at aol.com]

Tried for the Pacific Loon today from 3:00 to 4PM, with no  luck.   I spent 
my time on the southern shore (amusement park beach  area) scanning and 
re-scanning the lake.    
 
The celebrity loon might still be around -- hiding up  at the north end, 
resting in some cove out of the wind, or subversively diving  each time a 
birder points a scope at its patch of  water.    
 
As I was leaving, the gulls lounging in mid-lake were put up by a  
sub-adult Bald Eagle (a Basic IV/5th-year bird with some black still on the tail  
and head).   The eagle surprised me by pursuing scattered elements of  the 
gull flock all the way across the lake to right over my head, where it did  two 
relatively tight turns (for an eagle), coming close to almost snagging  a 
careless Ring-billed Gull.   
 
I don't think I've ever seen a Bald Eagle make this sort of extended chase  
of a bird-in-the-air before.  The Ring-bill did not have any  prey in its 
mouth, so the eagle's intent was mortal, not  mere kleptoparasitism. 
 
Good birding, 
 
John Workman 
Ridgewood, NJ