Date: 8/21/26 8:02 am From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: Re: [EBB-Sightings] Noyo Pelagics -August 30th
Greetings Bay birders -
We still have some room on our pelagic trip on Sunday, August 30th, from Noyo Harbor in Fort Bragg. Northwest winds continue and are predicted for some days between now and then, but they are generally not big blows, in the range of 10-15 knots, as typically occurs in late August. Upwelling produced by these winds has kept water temperatures cool off the Mendocino coast, now in the 54-58 degree range, with a cooler band of water occurring off our coast among the warmer incoming water associated with El Niño.
New and interesting birds continue to be seen on our trips. Following positive comments from outside reviewers, we have accepted records of 6 Townsend's Storm-Petrels observed and photographed on our trip of August 3rd. Summaries of these and other recent records, representing the first documented occurrences of this species in northern California, are in the eBird Checklists, for example here:
Late August is a great time for a variety of all the regular species (albatrosses, shearwaters, jaegers, skuas, Sabine's Gulls, Arctic Terns, phalaropes, etc.) and we anticipate finding good numbers of storm-petrels as we did on our August 3rd trip (five species including Wilson's). Nazca Boobies seem to be having an incursion year, with 2 in SF, 3-4 off Mendocino, and one off Humboldt yesterday, so far. Other southern or warmer-water species such as Cocos Boobies and Guadalupe Murrelets have also been seen in relatively good numbers off the central and northern coasts of late, and we anticipate that these and other unusual species will be attracted to the cooler waters of higher marine productivity off Mendocino, surrounded by warm-water "oceanic desert" moving in. Finally, you never know, there's always the chance for a 'mega-rarity' on any pelagic trip.
We still have 1-2 scholarships available for high school and college students, sponsored by Mendocino Coast Audubon, for free tickets. If interested in one of these, contact Tim Bray (cc'd above). MCAS has also reserved a campsite at MacKerricher State Park for the night of the 29th-30th. If interested in taking advantage of this, contact Roger Adamson (cc'd above).
On August 17th a group of birders set off of Sausalito for another run into the Deep Waters off of San Francisco county, especially the Pioneer Seamount some 55 miles offshore. We were treated with good weather all day, with high overcast and minimal swell, with some light gusts of wind.
We left on a southwestern trajectory out of the Golden Gate. The huge numbers of Sooty Shearwaters recently present off our coast continued, along with a nice number of Jaegers including a surprisingly in-shore Long-tailed. As we neared the shelf edge activity started to pick up and our first Tufted Puffin came alongside a South Polar Skua. Crossing over the Canyon proper, we found some of the Storm-Petrels recently noted by the Alvaro's Adventures trip a few days prior, including high numbers of Blacks as well as Ashies.
Riding out the canyon screams went out over our first two pelagic "land" birds: a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird and a juv Least Sandpiper. While the expected landbirds still dominate on pelagic trips, seeing passerines and shorebirds out here is a little bit like seeing them on the Farallon Islands, and there is always a very real chance for rare migrants out there.
The canyon held good numbers of Buller's Shearwaters, Sabine's Gulls, Storm-Petrels, and Humpback Whales as well as a good smattering of Murrelets. The boat got great views of two seperate GUADALUPE MURRELETS as well as a single Scripps' and a few others left unidentified. This has likely been the best year in the last couple decades for Guadalupe Murrelets off of the Bay Area, and on this day we actually found more Guads than Scripps's(!). A pair of Common Terns went by, which surprisingly outnumbered Arctics on this day.
At around 10:30 we left the more productive shelf-edge waters of the canyon and headed off into the "oceanic desert" that starts about 40 miles offshore. These waters, which earlier in the year hosted large numbers of Cook's Petrels, are relatively infrequently-surveyed, and it is not always clear what's going on where when you get that far off. Anyways, one of the few consistent features of these far offshore waters are the presence of Leach's Storm-Petrels, which are relatively rare within 30 miles of shore. Sure enough, a smattering of Leach's appeared when we entered this region: a couple obvious pale-rumped likely northern-breeding birds and a few more subtle dark-rumped "Chapman's" Leach's from the south. The "chapman's" have been an interesting feature of this year, and have shown up even by the Pioneer Canyon this year. This taxon's status this far north is clouded by the lack of data in far offshore waters, but it is likely infrequent at best as a visitor to our region.
Coming hand-in-hand with the dark-rumped Leach's came a single FLYING FISH seen by several on board. While present this year (almost half a dozen separate boats have seen them off of the Bay so far this year) their presence in this region is nonetheless remarkable, and represents an unprecedented incursion this far north.
We topped the seamount and spent a couple hours trolling around the deepwater both on the summit and on the eastern flank searching for pockets of activity. Cetacean activity was excellent, with many Fin Whales, several Blue Whales and a pod of Common Dolphins. Birds were few and far between out there today, with large numbers of Red Phalaropes but only small numbers of Storm-Petrels, Sabine's Gulls and shearwaters otherwise.
As we started to come in, entering 50 then 45 then 40 miles offshore, activity started to pick up again, and drastically. There were no obvious underwater features or temperature breaks, but about 42 miles west of Montara the amount of life was truly spectacular. Over just a 30 minute span we flushed several flocks of multiple hundreds of Buller's Shearwaters each, numbering over 1000 individuals in total. It is worth noting that while Buller's not infrequently come in large numbers to this area in September and October, having such a concentration in August is quite unusual. We were rushing to get back to the dock, but the numbers of Shearwaters and other seabirds was quite impressive nonetheless. During this time, a bright (female?) Yellow Warbler started following the boat, and we picked up a couple more Guadalupe Murrelets. Not long after this the rod on board started to whir and the captain and deckhand spent the next half hour fighting and then landing a 200 lb Bluefin Tuna! A pretty impressive end to a nice day out there.
On our way back in we swung by the "W" Buoy east of the farallons and got good looks at the two continuing NAZCA BOOBIES. After soaking in the boobies we headed inshore. As we drew close to shore right off San Francisco we were met to an incredible spectacle of 50,000+ Sooty Shearwaters foraging right offshore.
It is turning in to quite the interesting year offshore with certain warm-water species (Guadalupe and Craveri's Murrelets, Cook's Petrels, Black and Least Storm-Petrels etc) appearing in our region in much higher than normal numbers while some other species (e.g. Albatross) seeming to be relatively absent.
If you are interested in future such trips message me privately. There are also quite an assortment of options for pelagics off of the West Coast this fall.
Date: 8/19/26 9:09 pm From: W Hudson via groups.io <wllm2...> Subject: Re: [EBB-Sightings] Bar-tailed and Marbled Godwits
Glad to see a BTGO has visited again; I am very grateful to the one that hung around the Emerville Marina in December '19, because I was getting desperate for a rare bird to report on. It was also very unconcerned with being photographed, so I got these.
Date: 8/19/26 5:09 pm From: Sam Zuckerman via groups.io <samzuckerman...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] Bar-tailed and Marbled Godwits
For those planning to look for the Bar-tailed Godwit at Hayward Shoreline, here's a link to a comparison shot showing the Bar-tailed foraging near our familiar Marbled Godwit.
The differences are striking: the Bar-tailed is a little guy, notably smaller than the Marbled, and it has white underparts and a strong supercilium the Marbled lacks. And its plumage is generally paler than its cousin.The rare godwit has been seen from the GPS coordinates reported by its finders, Will Brooks and Dallas Levey (37.648242, -122.155189).
Date: 8/15/26 3:13 pm From: Mark Rauzon via groups.io <mjrauz...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] Red-eyed Vireo continues on day 11
The Red-eyed Vireo (REVI) at Creekside Park in Alameda, found by Erica Rutherford and John Colbert 11 days ago, sang generously at 10:35at the intersections of the trail up hill and across the creek. The site is visible in this very short video of the interestingexperience. At one point the REVI got a caterpillar and a Hutton's reacted; it looked like a food exchange only the caterpillar remained with REVI.Offering to share rebuffed?  Stills are in here.
https://youtu.be/L-UhaYa4cqI Happy fall birding.Mark RauzonOakland
Date: 8/15/26 8:34 am From: Cal Walters via groups.io <calw...> Subject: Re: [EBB-Sightings] Cranes?
There have been a flock of 10 or so white pelicans over southern Oakland. They are huge, high flying birds with long looking necks and beaks. In the past at first glance I have thought similarly.
Cal Walters
> On Aug 15, 2026, at 8:21 AM, Caren via groups.io <carenann...> wrote:
>
> 
> I know this is highly unlikely but I saw a flock of large birds flying in roughly single file over the Grand/Lakeshore area Friday around 5. I only got a glance because I was driving on 580. At first I thought they were geese but then I saw what looked like long legs trailing behind. Without my being in a situation to stand and look with Bono’s I couldn’t see any markings. They had long thin necks though. There were about ten of them. I’ve never seen cranes in oakland and it’s not really migration season. Did anyone else see something?
>
> Happy birding,
> Caren
>
>
>
Date: 8/15/26 8:21 am From: Caren via groups.io <carenann...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] Cranes?
I know this is highly unlikely but I saw a flock of large birds flying in
roughly single file over the Grand/Lakeshore area Friday around 5. I only
got a glance because I was driving on 580. At first I thought they were
geese but then I saw what looked like long legs trailing behind. Without my
being in a situation to stand and look with Bono’s I couldn’t see any
markings. They had long thin necks though. There were about ten of them.
I’ve never seen cranes in oakland and it’s not really migration season. Did
anyone else see something?
Date: 8/13/26 9:39 am From: Zac Denning via groups.io <zdenning1...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] (Another) Red-eyed Vireo at Berkeley Meadows
To add to the recent rare vireo sightings, there’s a Red-eyed Vireo at
Berkeley Meadows. First seen at about 8:30am in the Willows near the
intersection with a small spur trail at about (37.8670630, -122.3101858).
Moving with periodic slow hops in the tops of the willows on both the north
and south sides of the main trail, singing occasionally. Last heard singing
at the east end of the main willow clump on the South side of the trail at
(37.8672615, -122.3086902).
Date: 8/12/26 10:23 pm From: Alexander Henry via groups.io <awhenry...> Subject: Re: [EBB-Sightings] BELATED REPORT: White-eyed Vireo on 6/25/2026 at Shadow Cliffs Regional Park (Heard only / Recorded)
Also shoutout Steve Huckabone, Livermore Valley all-timer
On Wednesday, August 12, 2026, Akira So via groups.io <akiradotnet= <gmail.com...> wrote:
> Greetings, > > Sorry about this being a belated report, as it is now too late to chase > it. But I recorded vocalization of a very likely White-eyed Vireo at Shadow > Cliffs on June 25, 2026. (~7 weeks ago.) The recording can be found at > below eBird checklist link. > > https://ebird.org/checklist/S382746025 > > In the field at the time, the Merlin app was unable to suggest any ID, and > I was unable to locate it visually. Today, I thought to try the BirdNET app > (the desktop version, not the new "BirdNET Live" app for smartphones). And > it gave me an ID as White-eyed Vireo, giving me confidence scores of ~95%. > > In case you wondered (perhaps to look for it in future years for possible > return visits), the approximate GPS coordinate of the observation location > was 37.668485, -121.848638 - in the western part of the park along the > arroyo. The time of observation was ~9:30 am. (The recording was made at > 9:35am.) > > This is the first White-eyed Vireo record for this location as far as I am > aware. But there have been several eBird records in this general area of > the East Bay, including those from May 2004 (Tassajara Creek Regional Park, > Tassjara EBRP Land Bank) and May 2020 (Patterson Pass). > > Again, it is too late to chase it now, but mentioning it for future > reference. > > Good birding, > Akira > > Akira So > Pleasanton, CA >
Date: 8/12/26 10:11 pm From: Alexander Henry via groups.io <awhenry...> Subject: Re: [EBB-Sightings] BELATED REPORT: White-eyed Vireo on 6/25/2026 at Shadow Cliffs Regional Park (Heard only / Recorded)
Wild find, great bird! Definitely strange how the Livermore Valley seems
like such a “good†spot for them relative to pretty much the entire Bay
Area except coastal Marin.
Makes me wonder about the potential of places like Patterson Pass, Shadow
Cliffs, etc for other southeast songbird vagrants like Hooded Warbler,
Northern Parula, Yellow-throated Vireo, Yellow-throated Warbler, god
willing maybe a Kentucky! Give it enough decades, perhaps… definitely worth
checking these traps into late spring and early summer, even if the
probability of something this good is extremely low on any given visit!
Basically the whole eastern half or so of Alameda county could always use
more coverage, at least relative to the western half the of the county the
population density is lower and while there’s a handful of good dedicated
birders finding great stuff, the ratio of birders to land area is just a
lot lower.
Congrats, that’s a super rare bird and also is another data point
supporting a peculiar and fascinating pattern. I wonder if anyone might
know why or have any ideas as to why this pattern exists, or if you think
it’s just a small sample size and stochasticity.
On Wednesday, August 12, 2026, Akira So via groups.io <akiradotnet=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> Sorry about this being a belated report, as it is now too late to chase
> it. But I recorded vocalization of a very likely White-eyed Vireo at Shadow
> Cliffs on June 25, 2026. (~7 weeks ago.) The recording can be found at
> below eBird checklist link.
>
> https://ebird.org/checklist/S382746025 >
> In the field at the time, the Merlin app was unable to suggest any ID, and
> I was unable to locate it visually. Today, I thought to try the BirdNET app
> (the desktop version, not the new "BirdNET Live" app for smartphones). And
> it gave me an ID as White-eyed Vireo, giving me confidence scores of ~95%.
>
> In case you wondered (perhaps to look for it in future years for possible
> return visits), the approximate GPS coordinate of the observation location
> was 37.668485, -121.848638 - in the western part of the park along the
> arroyo. The time of observation was ~9:30 am. (The recording was made at
> 9:35am.)
>
> This is the first White-eyed Vireo record for this location as far as I am
> aware. But there have been several eBird records in this general area of
> the East Bay, including those from May 2004 (Tassajara Creek Regional Park,
> Tassjara EBRP Land Bank) and May 2020 (Patterson Pass).
>
> Again, it is too late to chase it now, but mentioning it for future
> reference.
>
> Good birding,
> Akira
>
> Akira So
> Pleasanton, CA
>
Date: 8/12/26 8:06 pm From: Akira So via groups.io <akiradotnet...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] BELATED REPORT: White-eyed Vireo on 6/25/2026 at Shadow Cliffs Regional Park (Heard only / Recorded)
Greetings,
Sorry about this being a belated report, as it is now too late to chase it. But I recorded vocalization of a very likely White-eyed Vireo at Shadow Cliffs on June 25, 2026. (~7 weeks ago.) The recording can be found at below eBird checklist link.
In the field at the time, the Merlin app was unable to suggest any ID, and I was unable to locate it visually. Today, I thought to try the BirdNET app (the desktop version, not the new "BirdNET Live" app for smartphones). And it gave me an ID as White-eyed Vireo, giving me confidence scores of ~95%.
In case you wondered (perhaps to look for it in future years for possible return visits), the approximate GPS coordinate of the observation location was 37.668485, -121.848638 - in the western part of the park along the arroyo. The time of observation was ~9:30 am. (The recording was made at 9:35am.)
This is the first White-eyed Vireo record for this location as far as I am aware. But there have been several eBird records in this general area of the East Bay, including those from May 2004 (Tassajara Creek Regional Park, Tassjara EBRP Land Bank) and May 2020 (Patterson Pass).
Again, it is too late to chase it now, but mentioning it for future reference.
Date: 8/8/26 6:44 pm From: Zac Denning via groups.io <zdenning1...> Subject: Re: [EBB-Sightings] Went looking for the Red-eyed Vireo
Hi Claude,
The hummer is an Anna’s. The stout build, straight medium length bill and
the dingy grayish underparts are typical.
Costa’s or Black-chinned females / juveniles would have quite a bit of
clean white on the throat, breast and belly, plus differences in the body
shape (e.g. Black-chinneds are long and lanky with a very long bill,
Costa’s are petite with a slightly ‘dumpy’ posture and a short curved bill)
Both the latter species would be rare, though a juvenile Black-chinned
was reported
at Creekside yesterday.
Zac Denning
Albany
On Sat, Aug 8, 2026 at 6:00 PM Claude Lyneis via groups.io <cmlyneis=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> I went to the Creekside Park to look for the Red-eyed Vireo, which I
> didn’t see but a number of birders did shortly before I arrived around
> 11:30 AM. I did see and get a photo of the Swinhoe’s White Eye with help
> of some other birders. On my way back, I saw a Hummingbird, photo below,
> that might not be an Anna’s. Perhaps a Costa’s? Is there an expert out
> there that can ID it from the photo? Two Lifers in one day? That seems
> unlikely.
>
> Claude Lyneis
>
> [image: 55450420767_8e91b0319b_b.jpg]
>
> Hummingbird Creekside Park <https://flic.kr/p/2stXUen> > flic.kr <https://flic.kr/p/2stXUen> > <https://flic.kr/p/2stXUen> >
> [image: 55451796670_8d78f5da0d_b.jpg]
>
> Swinhoe's White-eye Creekside Park <https://flic.kr/p/2su5XeQ> > flic.kr <https://flic.kr/p/2su5XeQ> > <https://flic.kr/p/2su5XeQ> >
> Claude Lyneis
> <cmlyneis...>
> https://www.youtube.com/bhsvideodad > Flickr Photos at https://flic.kr/ps/36it5P >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Date: 8/8/26 6:00 pm From: Claude Lyneis via groups.io <cmlyneis...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] Went looking for the Red-eyed Vireo
I went to the Creekside Park to look for the Red-eyed Vireo, which I didn’t see but a number of birders did shortly before I arrived around 11:30 AM. I did see and get a photo of the Swinhoe’s White Eye with help of some other birders. On my way back, I saw a Hummingbird, photo below, that might not be an Anna’s. Perhaps a Costa’s? Is there an expert out there that can ID it from the photo? Two Lifers in one day? That seems unlikely.
If you have been afflicted by the same issue with the latest version of the Telegram app that I have, where it has stopped sending you notifications, there has been a Red-eyed Vireo at Creekside Park. There are details on eBird.
Date: 7/27/26 9:19 am From: Ethan Monk via groups.io <z.querula...> Subject: Re: [EBB-Sightings] notes
I should clarify my Forster's Tern statement: I have not seen them in
summer on Richmond's San Francisco Bay shoreline in 5 or so years. While
they have declined along the north Richmond (and North Richmond) shorelines
on San Pablo Bay, they are still present during the summer in that region.
Ethan
On Mon, Jul 27, 2026 at 9:14 AM Ethan Monk via groups.io <z.querula=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> This morning I was able to briefly check some spots in Richmond.
> Highlights were one Red Knot at Meeker Slough, 4 Forster's Terns in the
> Albany Crescent, and 10+ Least Terns in the Albany Crescent/off Isabel.
> Forster's Terns were not a difficult species to find in Richmond in
> July/August when I started birding, but I think it has been five or more
> years since I have seen a summer Forster's Tern in Richmond. The Least
> Terns were curious. At about 6:25 AM, I heard Least Terns flying over me
> while I was scoping the bay from near the Pt. Isabel radio tower. I looked
> up and saw a flock of 8 silhouetted against the fog flying northeast. I
> followed them as they appeared to beeline into urban Richmond towards
> ~50th/55th streets . About thirty minutes later I was scoping the Albany
> Crescent when 8 Least Terns dropped in from the north--from over the
> Costco--and began to forage in the bay water. I presume the same birds?
> Other than the 8, one adult and doting juvenile were foraging together off
> Pt. Isabel for much of the morning.
>
> While I am here, last Friday morning birding Bethel Island I found a
> Swainson's Thrush. This is one of the latest local breeding species to
> migrate, and is exceptionally rare away from breeding sites in July. So, it
> feels worth a mention here.
>
> Best
> Ethan Monk
>
>
>
>
Date: 7/27/26 9:14 am From: Ethan Monk via groups.io <z.querula...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] notes
This morning I was able to briefly check some spots in Richmond. Highlights were one Red Knot at Meeker Slough, 4 Forster's Terns in the Albany Crescent, and 10+ Least Terns in the Albany Crescent/off Isabel. Forster's Terns were not a difficult species to find in Richmond in July/August when I started birding, but I think it has been five or more years since I have seen a summer Forster's Tern in Richmond. The Least Terns were curious. At about 6:25 AM, I heard Least Terns flying over me while I was scoping the bay from near the Pt. Isabel radio tower. I looked up and saw a flock of 8 silhouetted against the fog flying northeast. I followed them as they appeared to beeline into urban Richmond towards ~50th/55th streets . About thirty minutes later I was scoping the Albany Crescent when 8 Least Terns dropped in from the north--from over the Costco--and began to forage in the bay water. I presume the same birds? Other than the 8, one adult and doting juvenile were foraging together off Pt. Isabel for much of the morning.
While I am here, last Friday morning birding Bethel Island I found a Swainson's Thrush. This is one of the latest local breeding species to migrate, and is exceptionally rare away from breeding sites in July. So, it feels worth a mention here.
Date: 7/23/26 3:09 pm From: Ethan Monk via groups.io <z.querula...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] [CALBIRDS] California Bird Atlas Town Hall Webinar TONIGHT - Late Breeders
