Alcids: aka Birds that prefer to live at sea

These are the birds I really, really wanted to see. Birds that only come to shore to raise babies.  We were hampered in seeing these kinds of birds by not taking an ocean birding trip and by not bringing a scope.  However, we did get glimpses of at least three species.

While in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, we saw these little birds off a ways from the shore.

I've compared their silhouettes with every alcid in the bird book, and can only guess.

The next ones we saw were slightly more bird-like.  Seen from the shore in Ucluelet, I have decided they are Rhinoceros Auklets.

 

By Cortes Island we saw 

Common Murres, distinctive by the dark line in their white faces during the non-breeding season.