ML622619196

Podrobnosti k pozorování

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.