>I'm a beginning birder and this is my first posting on Tweeters. I was at
>the end of the fishing pier at Edmonds today watching a small diving bird,
>and I can't seem to ID it in the Petersen Guide.
>
>It was overcast, and the bird was some distance from me. It also dived
>for
>several minutes at a time, surfacing for only about 30 seconds or less
>before diving again. And it was often obscured by the swells. It was a
>dark murky brown in color, with a relatively short, thickish beak, which
>was also darkish. The bird didn't seem to be much larger than a
>pied-billed grieb, but I might be wrong on that. The most noticeable
>point
>was that when it dove, it quickly extended its wings about 3/4 of the way
>and sort of "flew" in. And the undersides of the wings had a lot of
>white.
>
>I'm sure that this must be some obvious bird that everyone knows. Thanks
>for your help.
>
>Bob Mauritsen

Rhinoceros Auklet, Bob.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416