Ancient Murrelet, Synthliboramphus antiquus


Ancient Murrelets
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.


Ancient Murrelets
The pale bill distinguishes the Ancient from other murrelets.


Ancient Murrelet