Coast Explorer Blog

Summer on the coast is seabird season as birds, who spend most of their life at sea, return to near-shore rocks to nest. Puffins on Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach offer a rare treat to see these colorful birds. While puffins are popular, just about a mile to the north in Cannon Beach is another remarkable display of nature. At Chapman Point, a grouping of rocks appropriately known as Bird Rocks is home to a colony of thousands of common murres that crowd nearly every inch of the top of the rocks. The colony of murres has been estimated in the tens of thousands here.

Common murres are similar to penguins, but murres can fly, admittedly very awkwardly. Growing to nearly 18 inches in length, they are one of the largest seabirds that can fly. They are much more graceful in the water, where they dive for food. Also in this shot, Brandt's Cormorants with their distinctive blue throat patch.

The last few years, the murre colony has received frequent, unwelcome visits from a rebounding local population of bald eagles. This week, three juvenile eagles were frequenting the rocks and nearby beaches. Adults were also spotted in the area.

A juvenile bald eagle is pestered by a seagull after raising a ruckus on Bird Rocks. Juvenile eagles are speckled and can take four or five years to display the distinctive white head and tail of an adult.

Typically, when an eagle soars overhead, thousands of murres spill off the rocks, abandoning their eggs and flee to the waters until the eagles depart. Gulls and crows, as well as the eagles feast on fresh murre eggs. The impact on this murre colony with the growing population of eagles is unknown, but watching this ongoing, daily drama makes it hard to believe that the murres are having much success at nesting on these rocks. Last week I did see two eagles on top of the rock, but the murres did not all leave as I have witnessed on previous occasions.

To those unaware, these are just some rocks sitting offshore, but zoom in with binoculars or a spotting scope and you will see nearly every foot of the top of the rock covered by murres. The birds lay a single egg which they incubate with the egg resting on their feet.

This ongoing nature display can be witnessed nearly every day, several times a day. Bring binoculars or a bird spotting scope. Whether you witness the rocks jam-packed with murres or the eagles scattering the birds in all directions, it’s a wondrous site.