Subject: [Tweeters] odd Murrelet
Date: Jul 3 08:37:49 2005
From: Ball - nigelball at bainbridge.net


Hi,

There was an odd Murrelet seen very well just off shore at the lighthouse at
Point Flagler on Marrowstone Island yesterday. The main features were:
* very short bill (looked shorter than the typical Marbled)
* very distinct, well-defined white undertail coverts
* golden brown color (lighter than, for example, Rhino Auklet)
* white speckled scaps

At the time I assumed it was an odd Marbled, but later I looked in the
book...

To be fair, alcids are a lot more varied than the books show; it did not
appear to be a particularly small bird; and it did have a darker accent to
the top of the head (but some photos of Kittlitz's seem to show that).

I'm not claiming a record, but the alcidophiles out there might want to
check out murrelets. (Actually, alcidophiles always check out Murrelets).
Perhaps I'll go back and see if it is still there.

Happy birding,

Nigel Ball
Bainbridge Island