We begin the season later on this month with multiple trips to the Farallon
Islands, most out of Sausalito on the fast and comfortable "Outer Limits."
The summer pelagic, the earliest offshore pelagic (non-island trip) will be
on July 20 from Half Moon Bay. At that point we begin a mix of some offshore
trips, and the remaining Farallon Island trips, which end on the Aug 9 trip
from Sausalito. Some people have asked me why the Farallon trips are early
in the season, and there is an easy answer. The earlier you go, the more
breeding birds that are there. Late June should have masses of murres there,
hundreds of thousands. These birds begin to fledge throughout July and by
August it is still amazing, yet there are fewer birds than earlier in the
season. We still have spaces on the first two Farallon trips, so if you want
to be overwhelmed by nesting seabirds, give those a try.
Later on in August and September we have the peak for offshore pelagic
birds. This is the time to be out there looking for storm-petrels,
albatross, shearwaters, migrant jaegers, Sabine's Gull, alcids from the
south (offshore murrelets) and migrant terns. As the season winds down into
October, the late season species like Flesh-footed (Sable) Shearwater become
easier, as can other rarer shearwaters as well as the Short-tailed
Shearwater. Rare species can show up anytime, but the early and late
offshore trips may be luckier for those. Also, during this period is when we
will be offering our Monterey trips, which this year are all 10 hour long
(albacore grounds) trips. These have more time to go to deeper water, the
albacore water is not always there, but these get us deeper into the bay
than 8-hour trips.
There are two special trips - the San Francisco pelagic on Aug 30 which
leaves from Sausalito. We have done this trip that tries to maximize time in
SF waters off the Farallon Islands. But this year we are expanding it to a
10-hour trip, allowing us to get deeper. Similarly, the San Mateo County
pelagic on Sept 1 leaves from Half Moon Bay, and weather dependent we try to
go southwest, keeping us in San Mateo County waters for the max time on that
day. Both of these trips are great for anyone, even those not interested in
county borders, but we do make an effort to keep in county for those who are
keen on their county lists. Both counties are fantastic pelagic birding
waters, some of the best in the world.
We always make time to point out whales, dolphins, sharks, and any other
marine creature we find. That is standard on all our trips. We have plenty
of time out there to enjoy birds, as well as other critters!
You can book here, some trips are starting to get near sell out:
