Hi, all!

I need some ID help on some alcids I saw yesterday. Alcids is not
something I see very often out east.

Yesterday we went to Point No Point without a scope (I know, I should have
brought one, but my scope, and especially my tripod, is not in good enough
shape for traveling). I saw a lot of alcids in the distance, just barely
out of binocular ID range. I'd call them a small scattered flock of mixed
Common Murres and something else that was much smaller, especially less
long-bodied. In front of that group was an even more scattered group of
Common Murres and Marbled Murrelets. I'm wondering if the "something
else" in the distance was Ancient Murrelet.
I know they've been seen there, but I don't want to use such
criteria for a life bird. The birds in the distance tended to lift
themselves half out of the water every once in a while and flap their
wings. The Marbled Murrelets didn't do this. Is that part of the
Ancients' jizz (like the tail movement of a Phoebe)? I know the Ancient
Murrelet has a dark throat and the Marbled doesn't, but they were so far
away I couldn't be sure if the darkness I was seeing was plumage, shadow,
blur or wishful thinking. The bodies seemed a little shorter than the
other two species, as if I was certainly seeing three different species,
but I doubt if the difference was enough to be able to see the difference
at the distance I was since I don't know murrelets that well at all.
Have I given a good enough description of the little bit of
detail I saw for those of you who know alcids better to make a judgement
call on birds you didn't see?
Thanks.

Happy bird-day,
Ken

Ken Gale
New York City
temporarily in Bothell, WA
nuffsaid at escape.com