Hello All,

Sorry for the extralimital report, but a Long-billed Murrelet, a rare
visitor from Siberia, was found today off Sandy Hook, NJ, not too far away
from MD.  Here is a post from an observer on JerseyBirds:

Jay Keller,
Arlington, VA



Date:         Thu, 18 Jan 2007 16:00:50 EST
Reply-To:     
Sender:       New Jersey Birding <>
From:         Harvey Tomlinson <>
Subject:      Long-billed Murrelet
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Hi Jersey Birders!
This morning at 8:15 I discovered what was finally identified as a
Long-billed Murrelet on the ocean off lot B on Sandy Hook, NJ.
I was NOT the birder who identified this bird.
That honor goes to Scott Barnes...I only wish I was as good as Scott.
Hence the reason the initial reports went out as a Guillemot. Actually, I
first thought the bird was a Dovekie.
I first saw the bird from the Lot "B" platform. It was resting and all
tucke
d up. I knew it was an alcid and dovekie seemed to fit. I called over to
the
NJAS to see if Pete or Scott were in. They weren't so I left a  message.
I decided to get closer and as I approached the waterline the bird took off
and flew south. It couldn't see where it went so I decided to drive down to
the  toll booth parking lot and try again.
When I got there I immediately relocated the bird and knew it wasn't a
Dovekie. Its bill was longer and it had an odd white patching on its wing.
Its
head, nape and most of it's back was black and its throat and neck into the
belly was white.
I left Scott a message saying it was a Black Guillemot in an odd molt. I
probably should have gotten a field guide to look at but up to this point I
hadn't. Mistake number 1.
Mistake 2 came shortly after when the guide I chose to look at was
Seabirds,
by Peter Harrison. Not that Peter's book is flawed its just it  was written
before Long-billed Murrelet became a species. It is not a choice in  Peters
book, so the closest bird I could find was a Guillemot.
Pete Bacinski showed up after I got the guide out and he knew  something was
wrong but using the same guide he came up to the same conclusions.  A bird
in
a very odd molt.
Then we saw the under wings were very dark and that's how Pigeon Guillemot
was born.
Right before Scott showed up I went and got National Geographic but still
never made the connection.
I am glad to be the Luckiest birder in NJ today but when Kudos are handed
out they need to go Scott's way.
I just happened to be pointed in the right direction this morning!
Good Birding,
Harvey Tomlinson