Ancient Murrelet, Synthliboramphus antiquus
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![]() Ancient Murrelets are irregular winter visitors to Central California coastal waters. An unusual number of them were seen close to shore in Fall 2014, with many birders reporting sightings; they are cold water birds, and more of them may have been driven in by the effect on their food supply of warmer ocean temperatures that year. I looked for them on three separate days in November, and while not getting the really close views that a few lucky photographers achieved, I was able to capture these middle-distance photos, my first of this species, making it the 500th I have photographed in North America. |
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![]() The pale bill distinguishes the Ancient from other murrelets. |
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