Also when we reached our maximum distance from shore (only about 3 miles) 9-10 Black-footed Albatrosses spotted our gull flock and came pouring in from the west. Several followed us all the way to the channel markers just outside the harbor.
March-May are the peak months for albatrosses off our shores; we had 600-1000 on one trip last April, and also saw three Short-tailed Albatross and 6-8 Laysans during these months (not to mention a whole bunch of Pterodroma petrels of four species).
Also we have just scheduled a half-day trip for April 18th leaving at 7:30 am. Stay tuned on how to sign up for this.
Finally, we have attempted this year to organize some back-to-back trips along the NorCal coast, or with a day or two in between. Unfortunately at this time there are no trips planned to Cordell Bank since the Bodega Bay skipper sold his boat this winter. Hopefully something will work out there soon. For now, we have some back-to-back or even week-long opportunities for multiple trips from Sausalito, Fort Bragg, and Eureka. I have listed these below (with sign-up information below the dates); if you know of ABA folks or others around the country that may be interested, please pass this along. We've also set up a Google calendar for these at:
Hope to see you up here for a trip, or two, or more!
Good birding, Peter
Northern California Pelagic Trip dates:
Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - April 4th (Saturday) Sausalito - SF waters trip April 18th (Saturday) - currently full but see below* Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - April 26th (Sunday) Eureka Rob Fowler - May 2nd (Saturday) Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - May 9th (Saturday) - Eureka RRAS - May 10th (Sunday) Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - May 30th (Saturday) Eureka Rob Fowler - June 13th (Saturday) Sausalito Al's Adventures - Farallon Islands trips weekly June 13 - August 8 Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - June 14th (Sunday) Eureka RRAS - June 20th (Saturday) Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - June 26th (Friday) Eureka RRAS - July 18th (Saturday) Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - July 20th (Monday) Eureka Rob Fowler - July 25th (Saturday) Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - August 3rd (Monday) Eureka RRAS - August 15th (Saturday) Eureka Rob Fowler - August 29th (Saturday) Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - August 30th (Sunday) Eureka RRAS - September 5th (Saturday) Sausalito Al's Adventures - SF trip September 13th (Sunday) Eureka Rob Fowler - September 19th (Saturday) Eureka Rob Fowler - October 3rd (Saturday) Eureka RRAS - October 10th (Saturday) Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - October 17th (Saturday) Eureka Rob Fowler - October 24th (Saturday) Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - November 1st (Sunday) Eureka Rob Fowler - November 14th (Saturday) Eureka RRAS - November 21st (Saturday) Eureka Rob Fowler - December 5th (Saturday)
*The 4/18 trip from Sausalito is full but there are still spaces left on the back-up date (4/21). Contact Logan Kahle <logan...> if interested in this back-up trip.
