Winter Wildlife Docent Day 2
My second day as a Winter Wildlife Docent on February 22 was a beautiful day at the seashore. I eagerly volunteered for duty at the Lighthouse observation deck knowing such gorgeous windless days are rare on the Point Reyes headlands. I was joined by fellow docent, Wendy. We set up a scope and 3 pairs of binoculars for visitors on the observation deck. Our kit also included samples of whale baleen, krill, and whale lice - wowza! No visitors were able to guess what the whale lice was but many commented that it looked like tiny crabs. One of the highlights of the day was meeting Joey, a photographer who spends hours at the lighthouse patiently waiting to photograph whales and other wildlife. He was a wealth of knowledge about whales and other wildlife in the area.
Wendy and I each talked to more than a hundred visitors in 6 hours. Although conditions were perfect — excellent visibility and no wind to roil the ocean, we did not spot any whales. One visitor thought he spotted a whale but we never saw it again which is unusual and later Joey noticed a large elephant seal swimming in the area where the “whale” was spotted. It’s easy to get fooled by other marine mammals or even partially submerged rocks. It’s hard to gauge size and scale from such a far distance.
While we didn’t spot any whales, we were treated to a huge colony of Common Murre (pronounced like the “mur” in murmur) perched on the rocks below the lighthouse. From the observation deck they looked like tiny black and white specks or mussels clinging to rocks but through the scope you could see them huddling, flapping wings, and moving around in perfect detail. What a treat! I could tell when the scope got off target by the lack of a “wow!” from the visitor looking through it. That was my queue to adjust the scope so it was pointing at the colony again. Murre spend most of their life at sea and come to the rocky cliffs to breed. They lay one conical shaped egg on the bare rock. The pointed end of the egg keeps it in place so it rolls in a circle rather than rolling off the cliff edge.
Common Murre at Point Reyes Lighthouse. From a distance, they look like mussels on the rocks. photo credit: frankf
Common Murre at the Point Reyes Lighthouse Feb 2024. This photo was taken 2 days after I was at the Lighthouse so this is exactly what I saw. photo credit: mountainlionmc
Other birds spotted included a hawk, many turkey vultures, ravens, and gulls. We did not spot the peregrine falcons that are known to nest in the area. We realized it would be helpful to have a bird book on hand and suggested it to the docent coordinator.
Wendy alerted me that it was time to go which surprised me since it felt like we just got there. Another fabulous day at the seashore!
Additional resources on Common Murre:
A Day in the Life of a Common Murre Biologist by Point Reyes National Seashore seabird biologists.
Read an account of the Common Murre at the Point Reyes lighthouse by artist Vickie Henderson
An interesting article on murre eggs.