Greetings Tweeters,

This is one of those "I can't believe my own eyes" alerts. This afternoon at approx 4:30 PM I observed a Murre at very close range from the top of the Jetty Rocks in Ocean Shores. The bird was floating / swimming slowly westward toward the ocean, and was within 10 feet of the base of the jetty. At most, the Murre was 30 feet from me when it passed by. There was some white on the throat, but I was focused on the bill. It was relatively wide (top to bottom) and the upper and lower lines were parallel until the tip, when the culmen rolled down to meet the lower mandable, much like the tip of a gull's bill. There is no way one could describe the bill as "thin" or "pointed".

I also noted that it was very short necked and chunky, but these are much more subjective observations.

If others see this bird, I'd love to hear about it!

-Rolan


Rolan Nelson
Fircrest, WA
rnbuffle at yahoo.com

---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail is new and improved - Check it out!