Date: 1/29/25 1:32 pm From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Noyo Pelagics trip report, January 27th
Greetings Mendobirders,
Not many pelagic trips have gone out off the California coast in winter,
but we decided to give it a try on January 27th. We envision conditions
as constantly stormy with massive swells at this time of year, but many
days, especially during this dry January, have been calm and beautiful
out there, and the 27th was no exception. As in November we looked ahead
for a favorable day and, even after switching dates from Friday to
Monday, we still managed to recruit 27 birders and marine mammal
enthusiasts to join in, thanks to outreach by the Noyo Marine Science
Center and Mendocino Coast Audubon Society.
We departed at 0800 on the Kraken, with Captain Richard Thornton and his
deckhand wife Corinne, of Anchor Charters
(https://anchorcharterboats.com/). Weather was as forecast, beginning
with light east winds which diminished to produce glassy seas, and there
was very low swell for this date off Mendocino. We first visited a
couple of groups of Gray Whales as they headed south along our shores.
These are straggling non-breeders, mostly young animals and males, as by
now the adult females are all down in the lagoons of Baja CA giving
birth and tending newborn calves. We gave these whales a passing salute
on the way out to Noyo Canyon, then later came in well to the north of
port, to cruise along with other southbound groups on the way in. Those
who came along for the whales were very pleased with the many close
views. The other marine mammal highlight was of a sleeping adult female
Northern Fur Seal out over the canyon. A debate ensued about whether or
not it was a log, until it lifted and clasped its fore and hind flippers
in "jug-handle" fashion. It had a pink tag, which meant it was from San
Miguel Island off Southern California, and we were even able to
photograph a partial number from it, which could allow the marine
mammalogists who study them to figure out who she is.
The birders on board had visions of all sorts of rarities. After all,
who knows what is out here in late January? Parakeet Auklets? Horned
Puffins? Mottled Petrels? Well, none of these today but the canyon did
offer rather constant entertainment in the form of sparse but consistent
densities of tubenoses, alcids, and, of course, gulls, which we kept
well fed with popcorn and fish parts throughout the trip. Almost
immediately dark shearwaters were attracted to our gull flock, and the
first 6-8 were all Short-tailed Shearwaters, instead of the far more
common (in summer at least) Sooty Shearwaters. Roger Adamson is doing a
Mendocino County "big month" and we had the unusual experience of
searching for a Sooty among the Short-taileds, as usually the opposite
is the case. We eventually were able to find a few Sooties for Roger's
January list. One of the Short-taileds had begun a complete molt, which
seems unusually early but, then again, with so little study on
non-breeding birds off California, perhaps this is normal?
For 2-3 hours over the canyon we enjoyed many good looks at Rhinoceros
and Cassin's Auklets and a few Black-footed Albatrosses that pleased all
aboard with their close passes. The albatrosses were all young birds,
not yet developing white around the base of the tail, as all of the
adults are out in Hawaii now, dancing away and incubating eggs. Several
of the Rhinoceros Auklets were already in breeding plumage.Surprising to
all of us, no Northern Fulmars today but, as they say, "no data is still
good data, just not as much fun to collect."
We wound up with 10 taxa of gulls, with 1-4 age groups of each,
affording the usual labyrinthian efforts to identify them all. In order
of decreasing abundance these were Western, Herring, Glaucous-winged,
California, Short-billed, Iceland (Thayer's), and Black-legged
Kittiwake. The last included 2-3 first-cycle birds, their striking black
hind collars reminding one non-birding participant of Lobot from Star
Wars. But, wait, that list was only of seven species. We say "taxa"
because three of the 10 were of hybrid combinations, which adds more
beats to the identification conundrum(!). Perhaps the avian highlight of
the trip was a rather large and very whitish gull with a pink base to
the bill, which we suspected was a hybrid between a Glaucous and a
Glaucous-winged Gull and this was later supported by gull experts on
masochistic social media groups devoted to these exercises. This hybrid
combination is known colloquially as "Seward Gull" because the hybrid
zone is on the Seward Peninsula in Alaska. You see, Glaucous-winged
Gulls have greatly expanded their range over the past century (in large
part due to the fishing industry), resulting in Seward Gulls, "Cook
Inlet Gulls" also in Alaska (hybrids with Herring), and "Olympic Gulls"
in Washington (hybrids with Western), accounting for all three hybrid
combos we observed on this trip.
While we did not get any avian super rarities, we were all pleased just
to be on the ocean under such glorious conditions. As pelagic observers
well know, things can change drastically from day to day, based on
shifting sea breezes, currents, and food resources, so a sample of one
January trip will not come close to telling the full winter story. After
the trip some of us met with the Captain to schedule out more trips for
2025, so stay tuned!
