ML126728161
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Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
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- Tags
- Watermark
Observation details
Long-billed Murrelet Brachyramphus perdix Shark Reef County Park, Lopez Island, WA 27 July 2015 Shortly after starting to scan the waters off Shark Reef County Park I spotted a group of three murrelets on the water together. Two were clearly Marbled Murrelets in black and white plumage, either juveniles or adults that had recently molted into their winter plumage, but the third was different. I first noticed that it lacked the white extending onto the side of the neck that the two Marbleds had, yet otherwise it seemed distinctly dark and light (rather than being in some sort of transitional plumage), which raised the possibility of it being a Long-billed Murrelet. There was a sharp transition between the dark upper side of the bird and the whitish under parts. The throat was entirely whitish with just a few very small flecks or scalloping of darker feathers, with the white extending down the breast. The bill was noticeably longer than the bills of the two Marbleds, and rather than abruptly sticking out of the head at a sharper angle as on the Marbleds, the transition from the head to bill was smoother. In front of the eye there was a slight indent of white into the dark upper part of the face, similar to that of a Scripps's Murrelet. On a few occasions when I focused on the face I could see a white eye ring, though was unable to determine whether it was a complete eye ring or merely eye arcs above and below the eye. The back of the head and nape were entirely dark with the exception of two obvious symmetrical light spots on either side of the nape. On the upper side of the body behind the wings on either side of the dark back there was an area of mottled white. The undertail coverts were clean white which contrasted with the dark tail. The coloration of the dark part of the bird was more gray than a Marbled Murrelet, though at times had some brown tones mixed in as well. The bird was noticeably larger than the two Marbleds, perhaps 10-15% bigger. After watching the birds for maybe ten minutes they dove under water. I was able to keep the Long-billed in view off and on for at least fifteen more minutes, though more often than not I would only get a few seconds to watch it before it dove again. I was able to confirm that both sides of the face had an identical pattern of dark and light (both sides were dark on the side of the neck where Marbled Murrelets have the white patch), and again saw the white eye ring/arcs. Video: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rjm284/20072613198/
Technical information
- Model
- iPhone 6
- Lens
- iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm f/2.2
- ISO
- 32
- Focal length
- 4.2 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/2.2
- Shutter speed
- 1/648 sec
- Dimensions
- 800 pixels x 533 pixels
- Original file size
- 278.64 KB