Marbled Murrelets are one of the more interesting water birds that I photograph on Puget Sound. The photo above is of two Marbled Murrelets at the Edmonds fishing pier in late April. The birds are in their breeding plumage. They alternate between bobbing across the surface of the water and diving for plankton and fish to eat.

These endangered sea birds are also a forest bird as they nest high-up in trees in old growth forests several miles from the coast. Due to logging of their nesting habitat, Marbled Murrelets are considered “threatened” in Washington, Oregon and California.

The photo above is a closer look at a single Marbled Murrelet. The Murrelets are fun and challenging to photograph as they don’t sit still for very long and spend much of the time underwater during their dives for food.

Photos taken with Nikon D500 camera and 500mm f/5.6 PF lens.