Date: 7/16/25 5:30 pm From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Noyo Pelagics trip report, 15-16 July
Greetings Mendo birders,
Things are picking up for our pelagic trips, with summer here and fall around the corner. Around 25 participants went out with captain Richard Thornton of Anchor Charters (https://anchorcharterboats.com/) and Noyo Pelagics (https://noyopelagics.com/) for each of a full-day trip on July 15th and a half-day trip on the 16th. It was a great example of how much difference a day can make when out on the ocean. We had moderate winds inshore and heavy winds offshore on the 15th, and birds everywhere, beginning with albatrosses, shearwaters, Ashy and Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels, Sabine's Gulls and a small jaeger about 2.5 miles from the harbor. This was much closer in for some of these species than we usually get, and some of us called out Parasitic for the jaeger, because Long-tailed is *never* seen this close to shore, yet later review of photos showed it to be a Long-tailed. As we headed out the canyon birds continued hot and heavy, with 2-3 Black Storm-Petrels (only the second time these have been seen in Mendocino) and dozens more shearwaters, gulls, storm-petrels, auklets, and Black-footed Albatrosses, the last including many "bleach-headed" adults that have gotten their fair share of sun while sitting on nests on white-sand Northwestern Hawaiian Island atolls. Some may have been here for their final 6000-mile RT foraging run to feed their chicks, which will be fledging this month.
An important observation today was of a "rafting" flock of 15-20 Ashy Storm-Petrels, not before seen doing this behavior off Mendocino. After breeding, Ashies flock up to sit on the water at select, yet-to-be understood (by us) places in the ocean to molt, in numbers sometimes exceeding 10,000. Fifty years ago these flocks were found in Monterey Bay, but since then they have moved north and are now most frequently found over Cordell Bank, off Bodega Bay. Will they next move on up here? We aim to find out! Heading off shore, we also had many more Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels and Sabine's Gulls, all three species of jaeger, some Arctic Terns, an early Buller's Shearwater, and increasing numbers of Leach's Storm-Petrels.
Cook's Petrel was on several participants' bucket lists so we slogged out to 20-25 miles from shore, well west of the wind shear. It seemed perfect timing and conditions for a Cook's but, despite laying out two slicks, we couldn't draw any in, just dozens more albatrosses and Leach's Storm-Petrels. It was otherwise a "birding desert," including nary a gull! So we decided to go back to where the variety was and this paid off, with all of the above-mentioned suspects, a count of 98 albatrosses at one of our slicks, and 2-3 South Polar Skuas. The highlight of the trip came when MCAS student scholarship recipient Ethan Monk, who will be starting law school at Davis this fall, spotted a small dark storm-petrel that was not flying like an Ashy. We were barely able to get a few participants on it and, luckily, got some diagnostic photos to document the first record of a Least Storm-Petrel in Mendocino County, and the northernmost record...ever. This species either seems to be moving north more and more, or we are just getting better at documenting them, as the first records for San Francisco and the second or so records for Marin have all occurred in the last three years (there is as yet a record for Sonoma).
We had a more relaxed crowd and weather on the 16th, with a greater focus on seeing whales. We had had Humpback, Fin, and Blue whales on the 15th, as well as Risso's and Pacific White-sided dolphins, but as we were after birds we did not spend too much time with these (except of course when the birds and cetaceans combine, as they usually do). On the 16th we immediately found ourselves surrounded with Humpbacks and Fins, and decided to hang around these for about half the trip to make sure everyone got their fill of great looks, which they did. One Fin Whale came right up to the boat! NCMS biologist Sara Sundberg was aboard to fill us all in on marine mammal haps and take photos of the whales for ID catalogues. Also in the marine science department, 2-3 salmon sharks, our first Mola of the year, and dozens of large by-the-wind-sailors (/Vellella vellella/) were about.
Bird-wise it was very different from the 15th, with only a scattering of shearwaters and albatrosses over the same track-line in which we'd seen hundreds the day before. The ocean can be quite fickle like this, which is what adds so much to the fun and intrigue. The reduced winds likely caused these birds not to move around as much, but it seemed more than just this, perhaps a different water mass had moved in. The birders were not disappointed, however, as a Manx Shearwater flew under the bow and close down the starboard side for all to enjoy, though briefly. This Atlantic species was absent from California waters until, pushed by wrong-way winds during the El Niño of 1992-1993, 100s were observed being blown around Cape Horn and into the Pacific. Since then they have been seen rarely but yearly off the West Coast, and breeding has recently more-or-less been confirmed on islands of British Columbia. Range expansion in action! We also had more Buller's Shearwaters and an egoistic South Polar Skua most interested in posing for close photos. On our way back in we spotted the trawler Dana J of Fort Bragg, working the edge of the canyon. As we approached, suddenly, dozens of Pink-footed Shearwaters and albatrosses sallied in behind us, and 100s of these and gulls were behind the trawler. It seemed perfect for a Short-tailed Albatross but, alas, among the 115 or so Black-footeds we could not spot that large neon-pink bill. Those who still need Cook's Petrel and Short-tailed Albatross will just need to try again.
The next Noyo Pelagics trips are scheduled for August 15th (Friday full-day) and 17th (Sunday half-day). Mid-August is now generally regarded as the best time for pelagic trips off California, both weather-wise and rarity-wise. You can sign up at our calendar at https://noyopelagics.com/#calendar <https://noyopelagics.com/%23calendar>.
