Tweets,

Too bad we didn't run into Alan at Point-No-Point.

We got there about 1 PM and started birding from the shore access west of the point at the end of the main road from Hansville. After about twenty minutes we got onto a pair of murrelets one of which was strikingly different, blacker on the back and with much more blackish on the nape, so that from behind it appeared the black cap was connected continuously to the back, with just a bit of white visible on either side of the neck, rather than nearly pinched off, as in the Marbleds. The scapular lines were quite conspicuous but not as extensive and seemed more sharply defined against a blacker back than the Marbled Murrelet with which it was associating. From the side the black of the crown continued down the neck with only a hint of a curve towards the nape, not nearly as much as in the Marbled. The birds were drifting west with the tide and eventually got beyond range.

About an hour later we relocated the bird in a group of three murrelets, associating with a pair of Marbleds. In fact, it finally flew off by itself. This was just off from Vic Nelson's house near the lighthouse. The birds obviously periodically fly back east to resume their westward tidal drift. Brad and Russ Waggoner, George Gerdts, Brien Meilleur, Vic Nelson, and Nancy and I all agreed that it was the LONG-BILLED MURRELET. At the closest approach, ca. 150 yards, with our battery of scopes, we could clearly see that the lower margin of the cap between bill and eye was level with the lower margin of the eye, while the Marbleds all showed the white of the throat bulging up between the eye and the bill. We were also able to make out a pale smudge in the blackish nape on either side of the neck. We were not close enough to see any pale eye crescents nor to judge if the bill was noticeably longer. George may have some recognizable digiscope photos.

We also saw the odd Marbled Murrelet that Alan noted, which is paired with a normal winter plumaged Marbled and which seems to be transitional to breeding plumage or else maybe oiled. The Long-billed Murrelet is quite different, strikingly black and white, more so than any of the some 30 Marbleds we observed. We think the National Geographic Guide has a better representation of the bird that we saw than does Sibley.

We also saw a number of ANCIENT MURRELETS as well as a few Rhinoceros Auklets, Pigeon Guillemots, and Common Murres. The rain stopped and we were able to keep the wind at our backs for excellent viewing conditions. Also feeding just offshore were some 500 Bonaparte's Gulls, which put on a show when they would all wheel away together.

Gene Hunn
18476 47th Pl. NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
enhunn323 at comcast.net