Date: 8/21/26 9:02 am From: Tim Bray via groups.io <tbray...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Noyo Pelagics -August 30th
From Peter Pyle:
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 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 (<audubon...>). 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 (<radamson...>).
Date: 8/19/26 5:14 pm From: Roger Adamson via groups.io <radamson...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Western Kingbird in Fort Bragg
Chris Lamoreux reports a Western Kingbird near Highway 1 just north of Fort Bragg at the “surfers parking†corner. Common inland but unusual on the coast.
Roger Adamson for Chris.
Date: 8/16/26 10:13 am From: Roger Adamson via groups.io <radamson...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Black Skimmer
Floyd Hayes reported a Black Skimmer this morning at the west end of the Navarro River, which is currently sanded in, so the bird is loafing in the lagoon. Refound by Tim Bray and Catherine Keegan, It was still present from about 9 to 9:45 and resting when we left.
RHA
Date: 7/31/26 8:22 am From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Noyo Pelagics Monday August 3rd
There is still some slots available on Monday's full-day trip. The
weather forecast is for it to calm down after several days of NW winds
and it looks decent at the moment, with 5-10 knots nearshore and a shear
of 10-20 knot wind off shore. Some wind gets the birds moving in our
area and if the above holds it could be ideal.
Last weekend off Eureka there were still plenty of Cook's Petrels and a
late (or early?) Murphy's Petrel along with lots of Scripps's and a
couple of Guadalupe Murrelets. But the big story was storm-petrels, with
Ashy, Fork-tailed, Wilson's, Black, Least, and Leach's all recorded. One
large dark bird turned out to be a Tristram's Storm-Petrel, fourth
record for California and first for Humboldt County. Then it looks like
there were several very strong candidates for Townsend's Storm-Petrels,
a breeding species of Guadalupe Island, Mexico. This species disperses
north of California, possibly throughout state waters, but the paucity
of previous July pelagic trips and difficulty in identification has
prevented confirmed records of Northern California. We had a similar
candidate on our July Noyo trip last year, and will be on high alert for
these on Monday.
All of the usual fun pelagic birds, albatrosses, shearwaters (including
Buller's), all three jaegers, skuas, both phalaropes, and Sabine's Gulls
should be in good supply. There are also 100s of Humpbacks out there now
and August is a good month for Blue and Fin Whales, dolphins, and etc.
Salmon and Blue Sharks and Ocean Sunfish (some of them 8-10' long) have
also been around.
To reserve a slot: https://noyopelagics.com/. Or if you want to just
show up Monday at 7:30 with cash, check, or card (cost is $185), we'll
be able to get you aboard.
Date: 7/26/26 4:40 pm From: Tim Bray via groups.io <tbray...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Noyo Pelagic, 3 August (Monday)
From Peter Pyle:
We still have some room on our pelagic trip of August 3rd. At this point
NW winds are predicted but this can change and we have also learned that
such conditions are great for birding as we can take it slow to get for
a comfortable ride, we don't have to go far to get to the good stuff,
and bird activity increases a lot when there is some winds.
July and early August are the prime storm-petrel months, when they
gather to molt, and up to nine species have been recorded off NorCal in
the past two weeks, including Wilson's on our trip of July 20th and
Wilson's, Least, and possible Townsend's off Eureka this past weekend,
as well as a large dark storm-petrel for which ID is being discussed.
Cook's Petrels are also still around, with numbers encountered over the
shelf off Eureka this past weekend. We have had 4 Masked/Nazca and two
Cocos Boobies so far this spring/summer off Noyo, and we are expecting
more as El Nino waters move in. On the other hand upwelling and
productive nutrient-rich waters have continued along our coast and over
Noyo Canyon, which continues to concentrate pelagic birds and marine
mammals including 100s of Humpbacks this past week.
We still have 1-2 scholarships available for high school and college
students, sponsored by Mendocino Coast Audubon. If interested in one of
these, contact Tim Bray (cc'd above). Also sponsored by MCAS is a camp
site reserved at MacKerricher State Park for the night of the 2nd-3rd.
If interested in taking advantage of this, contact Roger Adamson (cc'd
above).
--
Cheers,
Tim
“I now belong to a higher cult of mortals for I have seen the
albatross.†Robert Cushman Murphy, 1912
mendocinocoastaudubon.org
kzyx.org/show/ecology-hour
kzyx.org/show/oak-and-thorn
