Date: 3/28/26 8:08 am From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Weather looking good for April 4th pelagic trip
Greetings Mendobirders -
I just checked the forecast and it currently calls for light NW winds on the 4th over Noyo Canyon, so we are anticipating a great full-day pelagic trip to the canyon and beyond.
On March 18th we put out a slick out there and counted 135 Black-footed Albatrosses, some of them coming over from a boat fishing for black cod. Albatross numbers only build during April, as more and more breeding adults visit our waters to find food for their chicks in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. April and May are also the months when Short-tailed Albatrosses are most frequently seen out there, as well as Laysans and many other tubenose species.
We have also set up a sign-up button for the half-day trip on the 19th mentioned below. This trip was set up for a college class and there are only a few additional spaces so, if interested, I'd consider signing up soon. A half day allows us to spend 3-4 hours over Noyo Canyon and put out 1-2 slicks for tubenoses.
To sign up for these and additional trips, including one on April 26th and two in May, see
On 3/16/2026 8:17 AM, Peter Pyle wrote: > Yesterday on a whale-watching trip involving local tribes I got lucky > and photographed a Parakeet Auklet flying away from the boat. > > https://ebird.org/checklist/S309622949 > > 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). > > We have full-day trips coming up April 4th and 26th and May 9th and 30th: > https://noyopelagics.com/ > > Also we have just scheduled a half-day trip for April 19th 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: > > https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/month/2026/10/1?cid=bG9nYW5rYWhsZWJpcmRAZ21haWwuY29t > > > 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. > > Contacts and to sign up: > > Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics): https://noyopelagics.com/ > Eureka Rob Fowler: contact Rob at <migratoriusfwlr...> > Eureka RROS: contact Sean McAllister at <whiteouters...> > Sausalito Al's Adventures: > https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2026.html > > Note also the many trips planned by Al's Adventures from Half Moon Bay > and further south.
