Date: 6/17/25 5:22 pm From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Trip report, June 15th, Noyo Pelagics
Greetings - Here is a slightly expanded version of the report that Tim sent out earlier. We'll have this report with photos up later this week (along with our schedule for future trips), here: https://noyopelagics.com/
Be sure also to check out the previous reports there if you haven't already. And hope to see you out there soon!
Peter
*Trip Report. Noyo Pelagics, 15 June 2025 *
It is great to get out in June, a month in which California offshore pelagic trips have been sparse. On Sunday's Noyo Pelagic trip we made it fifteen miles offshore in very heavy seas. Captain Richard Thornton of Anchor Charters (https://anchorcharterboats.com/) and Noyo Pelagics (https://noyopelagics.com/) was able to skillfully negotiate the conditions, frequently adjusting the speed and direction of the Kraken as the waves came at us. The going was slow but, as we've learned, there is plenty of time to get where we need to be going on a full-day trip out of Noyo Harbor. And as we've also known, higher winds are favorable for seeing all tubenoses, which are built to zoom around in such conditions.
This day, 15 miles was far enough to get us into the /Pterodroma/ zone. Our second chum slick drew an estimated fifteen Murphy's and at least ten Cook's Petrels, whizzing around in 20-knot winds and repeatedly investigating our fish-oil slick, giving everyone great views of these remarkable birds. We ended up with 37 Murphy's and 18 Cook's for the day, the latter a species new for Mendocino on one-day pelagic trips and a new bird for many veteran county birders. Seeing them with land (the Mendocino Ridge) in the background is also something not normally seen off California, if ever!
Perhaps even more remarkably, sharp-eyed birders photographed some dark shearwaters that were following the boat at times, and at least one has been verified as a Short-tailed Shearwater. Chuck Vaughn says there are no previous summer records for this species off Mendocino. We think they may be rare but regular in summer, easily missed among the hundreds or thousands of Sooty Shearwaters which they closely resemble. Now that we have more skilled photographers on the boats, we are getting IDs on birds that might have been missed.
Other notable bird species for this time of year included Red-necked Phalaropes, adult Sabine's Gull, and a breeding-plumaged Tufted Puffin that circled the boat several times for all to enjoy. Jaegers have been vary sparse on our spring trips, so it was nice to see a third-year Pomarine come into our last slick and circle around for several minutes. This age group is still too young to breed so it (and second-year) birds are what we typically encounter off California in June-July, until the breeding adults begin to head south in August.
Cetaceans are also finally beginning to return (more than a month later than last year), with at least one Humpback and two other larger blows that may have been Blue or Fin Whales. A pod of 15-20 Pacific White-sided Dolphins also rode the bow and wake for a spell.
We spent a lot of time identifying (or attempting to identify anyway) dots on the horizon. /Pterodroma/ petrels are known for their incredible flying style, arcing high while barely moving a muscle. Their wing shape is a bit more angled than that of the shearwaters, and so is their angle relative to the water. Once this latter angle hits about 45° it's a good bet you have a /Pterodroma/, and once it gets to 60-90° you know you have one! They will often flip over at the top of their arc, with their backs to the surface at times, and we saw many Cook's Petrels do this today. So quickly did the Cook's dart over and back and up and down in the winds that it was difficult to get sharp photos. By contrast, shearwaters typically reach a 45° or so angle at most, and often give us a flap or two at the top of their arc, something unrequired by the /Pterodroma/ petrels. Speaking of /Pterodroma/, we still await final expert opinion on the Herald Petrel or hybrid thereof from our May 24th trip (see that report here <https://noyopelagics.com/pelagic_calendar/saturday-5-24-25-half-day-noyo-canyon-mammal-dedicated/>). We'll of course keep you posted on this.
The eBird Trip Report with checklists and photos is here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/385981. The next Noyo Pelagics trip is scheduled for July 15 (Tuesday), and you can sign up at Home - Noyo Pelagics <https://noyopelagics.com/>. Mid July is also a time of year where few trips have been scheduled and anything we find may provide significant records.
Cheers, Tim and Peter
On 6/17/2025 9:37 AM, Tim Bray via groups.io wrote: > > 15 June 2025 - On Sunday's Noyo Pelagic trip we made it fifteen miles > offshore in very heavy seas. That was far enough to get us into the > Pterodroma zone and our chum drew an estimated fifteen Murphy's and at > least ten Cook's Petrels, whizzing around in 20-knot winds and > repeatedly investigating our fish-oil slick, giving everyone great > views of these remarkable birds. > > Perhaps even more remarkably, sharp-eyed birders photographed some > dark Shearwaters that were following the boat at times, and at least > one has been verified as a Short-tailed Shearwater. Chuck Vaughn says > there are no previous summer records for this species off Mendocino. > Peter Pyle thinks they may be rare but regular in summer, easily > missed among the hundreds of Sooty Shearwaters which they closely > resemble. Now that we have more skilled photographers on the boats, > we are getting IDs on birds that might have been missed. > > Trip Report with checklists and photos here: > https://ebird.org/tripreport/385981 > > The next Noyo Pelagics trip is scheduled for July 15 (Tuesday) and you > can sign up here: Home - Noyo Pelagics <https://noyopelagics.com/> > > -- > Cheers, > Tim > “I now belong to a higher cult of mortals for I have seen the > albatross.” Robert Cushman Murphy, 1912 > Mendocino Coast Audubon Society <http://mendocinocoastaudubon.org/> > Ecology Hour <https://ecologyhour.wordpress.com/> > Oak & Thorn <http://oakandthorn.wordpress.com> > Facebook: Oak and Thorn <https://www.facebook.com/oakandthorn> >
