ML611270695

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

While looking with a fair number of other birders hoping to see the ancient murrelet, I picked up a small Alcid flying north, moving away from my vantage point, staying close to the horizon line. The impression in flight was quintessential Alcid, with frantic, whirring wingbeats and very direct flight with a few interspersed banking movements. It was already a fair way off when I initially got onto it, and I saw mostly its back as it flew. The upper line on the attached map is lined up with the reference point I used on the far shore when it landed, but distance is hard to estimate. The shaded area is my best guess as to the approximate area in which I observed the bird fly and the arrow indicates the general direction of flight. If an ancient murrelet had not been seen previously, I would not be comfortable with an identification beyond small Alcid sp. based on what I was able to see. That said, the flight, size, and impression matched well with Ancient Murrelets that I have seen around Vancouver Island.

Technical information

Dimensions

1841 pixels x 1853 pixels

Original file size

678.63 KB