"Common Murres" Top 5 Page for this destination Point Reyes Station Things to Do Tip by JLBG

Point Reyes rock, several hundred feet below the lighthouse is a rookery for Marine birds. Their life, breeding, nesting, hatching, etc are monitored by Point Reyes Bird Observatory
There are thousands of black and white birds, roughly resembling penguins though they are related with puffins and not with penguins (see the second photo, a close up, sorry, not very sharp). This bird is an auk, the Common Murre or Common Guillemot or Thin-billed Murre ( Uria aalge). There are about 16,000 pairs of murres breeding just offshore on Lighthouse Rock.. For more, visit Point Reyes Bird Observatory

Since 1981, the Northern elephant seas (Mirounga angustirostris) breeds at Point Reyes after being absent for over 150 years. This is one of only eleven mainland breeding areas for the Northern elephant seal in the world.