Common Murre

Why did we go to Homer? No reason, really. We had one entire day to spend there. When we arrived in Homer the night before, we had no idea what we were going to do on that day. We just figured that we would find something to do there. After a bit of research, however, we elected to take advantage of one of the local boating companies for an excursion to the little town of Seldovia (population 286 in the 2000 census), across Kachemak Bay from Homer.

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The boating company took you across to Seldovia via the scenic route, let you wander around town for two or three hours, and then brought you back via the direct route. So we got to take another boat trip! It was much shorter than the one out of Seward, but on the other hand it was actually bright blue sky and sunny. A fantastic day by any standard.

Kachemak Bay was very active with birds. The species I saw the most was Common Murre. They are pretty bland looking birds (Or are they "cool looking"? I need to make up my mind!). Dark on top. White underneath. A dark, medium length, pointy bill. They like to float on the water and dive for their food. They were everywhere.

I saw them singly.

I saw them flying in formation.

I saw large groups of them roosting on rocks.

I saw a parent squawking "Watch out for that boat!" to its chick.

Yes...Common Murre were, in fact, fairly common.