Summary: Fairly common winter resident. Not typically seen along the road system in summer. Best viewing locations in town are Eliason Harbor, the Channel, and Starrigavan Bay.

	Spring	Summer	Fall	Winter
Sitka Road System	Uncommon	-	Fairly Common	Fairly Common
Sitka Area*	Fairly Common	Occasional	Fairly Common	Fairly Common
*Unless otherwise noted, occurrence in the Sitka Area is unknown or presumed similar to that on the road system

Pacific Loons seem to show up in Sitka area waters before they are typically seen from the road. Throughout the winter it is not unusual to see several feeding in the channel or harbors around Sitka.

J Dan Webster
Sparse in summer; common in winter, spring, and fall. Whether or not it breeds is uncertain.

My Comments
I have had good luck getting good looks at Pacific Loons in winter at Eliason Harbor. They can be watched from the dock as they dive for food among the fingers.

It’s not clear to me why Pacific Loons (as well as Common Loons) would show up in the waters away from town before they are seen in town. Nor why they (apparently, I still need to confirm this) are seen in the area waters through the summer, but rarely, if ever, are seen from the road system. It seems unlikely that they are breeding here, so presumably any summer birds are non-breeding (hatched the previous year?) birds. As far as I can tell, they prefer near-shore environments, and I am not sure what differences would make the off-road system shoreline so much more appealing, but not in winter.