Tim Melling – Kittlitz’s Murrelet

Tim writes: Kittlitz’s Murrelet is one of the least-known auk species on the planet being only found off Alaska and Eastern Siberia and is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN.  This means there is an extremely high risk this species will become extinct in the wild.  Numbers are declining at a startling rate throughout their limited range but they are difficult to census because of their odd nesting habits.  They nest individually (not in colonies) at low density on tundra, often near glaciers about 20km from the sea.  Their cryptic plumage looks more like a grouse than a seabird.  Very few nests have been found and nobody knows what happens to the chicks as no chick has ever been seen at sea with an adult.  It has been suggested that chicks might float to the sea along rivers.  I saw a few dozen birds along the coast of eastern Siberia but they were all distant and skittish.  Then one day we were out in Zodiacs watching Grey Whales when I spotted two some distance away.  I managed to persuade everyone that close views of Kittlitz’s Murrelet was far rarer than Grey Whales, and the Murrelets could fly off at any minute, but the whales were likely to remain.  So we went for a closer look and managed to take a number of close photographs.  The Alaska Fish and Wildlife Service asked if they could use my photographs in a project to find out if locals in remote areas had seen this bird.

 

Taken with a Nikon D7000 and an 80-400mm Nikkor lens on 400mm 1/2000 f8 ISO 800

 

[registration_form]