ML622619196

Observation details

The first Common Murre seen today was an amazingly cooperative bird in alternate plumage seen on the water 5.9 kilometers just west of due south of Dana Point (33° 24' 34.9" N, 117° 43' 50.1" W). This was a large alcid with striking plumage patterns on a body that was about the size of a football, a moderately long neck for an alcid, a short tail, a rounded head, and a relatively long, slim bill that tapered from a base of medium depth to a pointed tip along a relatively straight culmen. The plumage was a striking combination of sooty-brown and white, with the entire head, neck, and upperparts sooty-brown and lacking obvious contrast, but with a dark crease curving back from the eye. The breast was white, but the white did not extend up the neck in a point. I saw no obvious contrast on the upperparts or what I could see of the closed wings, but the flanks were white with bold, blackish barring or mottling. I think the undertail coverts were white, but I was not completely sure about this. The bill was black, and even though the eyes were dark, I was unsure about the precise color of the irides. I never clearly saw the legs or feet on a bird that I saw exclusively as it sat on the surface at close range.