312 : Marbled Murrelet

Marbled Murrelet - Brachyramphus marmoratus

This was a lovely reward for a long walk down a board walk through a rain forest from the Kwisitis information centre in the Pacific Rim National Park. The "Long Beach" section of the park has miles and miles of unspoilt coast. There are heaps of driftwood, rock pools, birds, and pristine rain forest down to the waters edge.

The link between the Marbled Murrelet and the old growth rain forest with stands of trees 5-800 years old is a strong one as unlike any other Auk these birds nest in the trees sometimes 15-20 km inland. Once old growth rain forest of Red Cedar, Western Hemlock and Douglas Fir is logged and then cleared again every 50-100 years it is useless to these birds. These birds have then become a front line in the battleground against logging the old growth forest.

The British Columbia environmental authority has produced this fact sheet. 

Marbled Murrelet, Brachyramphus marmoratus
Pacific Rim National Park, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
6 August 2014