[EBB Sightings] Point Isabel Birds 6.24.09 including Common Murre

Friends!

Mary Tyson and I went to Point Isabel Regional Shoreline (Richmond, CA) 
today Wednesday June 24, 2009 at 3:30 pm as the high tide turned. Sunny and 
windy conditions.

We saw Killdeer, Red-winged Blackbird, Snowy Egret, Double-crested 
Cormorant, Long-billed Curlew (2), Whimbrel (2), Willet (many), American 
Avocet (some, in breeding plumage), Ruddy Duck (gotta love that big blue 
bill!), Canada Geese, Caspian Tern, Song Sparrow, Western Gull.

Bird of the day, unfortunately, was a moribund Common Murre. It seemed 
shorter, perhaps 14 or 15 inches,   than the suggested 17 and 1/2 inches in 
the National Geographic FG to Birds of Western North America, but bill and 
color pattern seemed unmistakable.

Better birding to you!
Alan Kaplan