Date: 5/25/25 8:49 am From: Alvaro Jaramillo via groups.io <chucao...> Subject: Re: [northbaybirds] [SFBirds] Pterodroma off Noyo
Peter
I must say this is a weird one, and hopefully there are more photos. The structure looks better for Herald with the thinner bill, and pointy and long tail, as well as narrower wings. However, Heralds have pretty clean white underparts, not this mottled look of this bird. The mottled look shows up on some Kermadecs, which are super variable as you know. But Heralds that I have seen are not all that variable. Kermadec can take cooler water than Herald, it is by far the more expected one. But we also have the mess of hybrids from Round Island, and who knows where those end up.
-----Original Message-----
From: <SFBirds...> <SFBirds...> On Behalf Of Kenneth Hillan via groups.io
Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2025 9:47 PM
To: <ppyle...>
Cc: <SFBirds...>; Birds North Bay <northbaybirds...>; Birds East Bay <EBB-Sightings...>; Tim Bray <tbray...>; Chuck and Barbara Vaughn <cevaughn...>
Subject: Re: [SFBirds] Pterodroma off Noyo
Did it have the flashes of a Kermadec on the upper wing? I couldn’t tell from the pictures.
Curious to learn how Magenta Petrel would be excluded based on the photos and flight pattern. I understand it can be eliminated based on location and rarity.
Apologies if my question is ridiculous, I’ve not done many pelagics.
> On May 25, 2025, at 4:41 AM, Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> wrote:
>
> Greetings Bay Area birders -
>
> We had apparently three species of Pterodroma off Noyo Harbor (Fort Bragg) including one that appears to be either a Kermadec or a Herald Petrel. A few photos are here
> https://ebird.org/checklist/S242257377 > and we will be loading a few more of this bird as we sort through, and at least one participant gets home and is able to download them. Comments on the ID are welcome.
>
> We also had 12-15 Murphy's and one Hawaiian Petrel.
> https://ebird.org/checklist/S242257375 > The weather was a bit blustery so we only made it 5-6 miles offshore where we had all these birds, as well as 1-2 Laysan Albatrosses, 20-30 Black-foots, Sabine's Gulls, etc.
>
> Spring and summer off Noyo seems a good time to see these offshore species as well as Short-tailed Albatross and we have two June and two July trips on the calendar dedicated to birds:
>
> https://noyopelagics.com/ >
> We're hoping for Cook's Petrels, at least on the full-day June 15th trip, when we'll be spending 7-8 hours in pelagic water, weather permitting. June is a month during which offshore pelagic trips have been sparse, so who knows what we may bump into. This trip is about half full so if you are interested, please sign up soon.
>
> Hope to see you up here, cheers,
>
> Peter
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