Common Loon/Common Merganser Question

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First some migration news: today at lunch, I had 2 White Eyed Vireos 
singing and flying about at Myrtle Grove in Charles County.

Now the question:  This morning I saw 4 birds flying overhead.  They 
had pointy wings and long necks with dark heads.  My first thought 
was Common Mergansers.  When I checked the Yellow Book, I learned the 
peak of Co. Merg. migration is long past, and now is prime time to be 
seeing Common Loons.  Then I read Todd Day's post about seeing some 
Loons yesterday morning and I really started to doubt my Common 
Merganser sighting.

The question is, how can you tell if it's a Loon or a Merg?  From 
below I couldn't see any of the droopyness of the head that loons 
have, in fact they looked like the head, neck and body was all on the 
same plane, but I was looking nearly straight up so that might be 
why.

Also, is there a good way to tell a Common from a Red Breasted Loon 
in flight?  I don't see a lot of any of these species in flight - 
does a correct id require lots of expirence with the various flight 
styles?

Thanks,
Bart Hutchinson

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