Ken Brown wrote about seeing numbers of common murres near Purdy Spit, and
asked "I assumed all murres went to breeding sites in May and young birds
there were simply learning and trying- but unsuccessfully. Any ideas about
why these birds are here, so far south in the sound, and in this number? I
assume they are non-breeders, but I have never seen any site records for
this number, so late, and so deep in the sound. .... Any ideas? "

I would have thought that numbers of murres in 'south' Puget Sound this time
of year might indicate abandonment of the coastal colonies, but I hadn't
heard that ocean temperatures had warmed enough to get the 'El Nino' effect,
scattering the murres' prey base, etc. I queried Roy Lowe, FWS biologist on
the Oregon coast to find out if the big colonies there were showing any
signs of abandonment - and got this reply:

"Murre attendance at colonies that are not being hammer by eagles is normal,
if there is such a thing. However, almost all north coast colonies are
dramatically impacted by eagles now. For example: Tillamook Rock Lighthouse
abandoned, Castle Rock at Arch Cape - abandoned, Pyramid Rock at Cape
Meares - abandoned, Pillar Rock at Cape Meares - abandoned, Shag Rock at
Three Arch Rocks - mostly abandoned, All Rocks at Cascade Head - abandoned,
Gull Rock at Otter Crest - abandoned etc etc. Those colonies alone use to
support a quarter million murres! Many murres are still in the area of the
abandoned colonies, but it is entirely possible that some have already blown
this area for the Sound. South coast colonies have not been impacted like
this yet but it is only a matter of time."

I haven't heard the status of the Washington coastal colonies this season -
perhaps someone has had the chance to talk with Julia Parrish from UW??

Don't you just hate it when you 'recover' a threatened population (bald
eagles), and they disrupt another species (murres) on the nesting colonies,
potentially decimating their population??!!

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net