Tweets:

Reading Bill Smith's report gave me a bit of a start. Clarice and I were
birding at Ocean Shores on August 4 ourselves. In fact, we were at the same
spot on Damon Point at about 6:30 P.M. and didn't see this bird-- but
interestingly we did (I'm pretty sure) see it earlier in the same day.

We were on the jetty, looking at birds along the harbor side, that morning
(about 8:00 A.M.) We saw an alcid matching the description Bill gave (which
I am repeating below-- sorry if this is too long). The Jetty, of course, is
just a little west of the spot Bill was at, as the alcid flies. Just as he
points out, the bird we saw was swimming close to shore (about 200 feet out)
and hung around for a long time. Clarice and I both got good long looks
through our scope (an optolyth, set at about 40 power). I was not at all
sure what the bird was (new bird for us) but we both remarked about its
markings and long, relatively thin, bill. Also, it wasn't with any other
alcids. We had our National Geo with us and Clarice picked it out from the
illustration-- I said "Nah, shouldn't be here"-- but it sure looked like the
picture.

I could not see any white on the nape, and I didn't really try to see an eye
ring.

Jerry R. Broadus
Geometrix Surveying, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Puyallup, WA. 98371
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>Long-billed Murrelet (Brachyramphus perdix) at Ocean Shores
>
>My wife and I had taken our grandson to run off some energy
>along the beach on the seaward side of Damon Point, Ocean
>Shores, Grays Harbor Co., WA, at about high tide (around 7
>pm) on 4 August 1999. I brought my scope (Kowa TSN-823 with
>20-60x) and was looking at various seabirds off the beach,
>primarily Rhinoceros Auklets, but also a Common Loon, a Surf
>Scoter, and various larids. Only about 50 m offshore, as
>near as 100 m from where I was standing atop a dune, I
>spotted a small alcid swimming rapidly to the right. I
>followed it for about 5 minutes and also let my wife (Susan
>A. Smith) and grandson (Nicholas A. Dolder) see it through
>the scope. It finally dove, and we could not relocate it
>when a number of other birds flew in to take advantage of a
>nearby boil of baitfish.
>
>Description: about 2/3 the size of a nearby Rhinoceros
>Auklet, basically blackish above, white below. The back was
>slightly but clearly grayer than the hindneck and cap, and
>the scapular area was clearly dappled white, essentially
>forming a broad, ill-defined white line. The cap came down
>to, and slightly below, the eye, and was essentially
>straight, perhaps rising slightly before the bill, which was
>black and fairly thin. The hindneck was evenly dark and
>showed no sign of a collar. When the bird flapped once, the
>wing linings were white, with dark edges to the underwings
>all around. The rump was very white. I did not note
>whether the nape showed a pale area, and any eyering, if
>present, wasn't noticeable under these viewing conditions.
>
>Analysis: the bird was a rather classic Long-billed Murrelet
>in the plumage apparently typical at this season. Marbled
>Murrelets in basic plumage show a strong although incomplete
>collar, and the cap dips noticeably lower at the eye; also,
>I believe, the back is more concolorous with the hindneck.
>A Kittlitz' Murrelet would show the cap not reaching down to
>the eye. Synthliboramphus murrelets lack the white on the
>scapulars. Other alcids which are basically black and white
>are larger and also lack the white along the scapulars as
>was evident on this bird. Molting or immature Pigeon
>Guillemots may look something like this bird, but I doubt
>they ever are as cleanly contrasting between the upper and
>underparts; also the white is on the wing (not the
>scapulars) and is squarer in shape.
>