Date: 4/22/26 9:58 am From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: [SFBirds] Noyo Pelagics 4/26
Greetings all -
We have some space available for this Sunday's full-day trip. Weather forecast looks great, NW at 15 dropping to NW at 5 by late afternoon and low swell. It will also be NW at 15-20 for much of the interim period from now, which should be good for Pterodroma petrels in the vicinity. Cost is $185; you can sign up for this trip at https://noyopelagics.com/.
Mendocino Coast Audubon Society has been a great supporter of Noyo Pelagics, including making scholarships available to pay full fare for high school or collage students. They are also now stepping up further, reserving camp sites for the night before each trip to lower the lodging costs for those who don't mind listening to owls and waking up to singing Pacific Wrens in the woods of MacKerricher, Van Damme, or other local state parks.
If you are interested in the scholarship program and would like to apply for one, contact Tim Bray <tbray...>. If you are interested in the camp sites, contact me <ppyle...> and/or Roger Adamson <radamson...>.
We were out for a half-day trip on the 19th and it was quite birdy out there, with spectacular migrations of scoters and loons and an abundance of alcids, gulls, phalaropes, and shearwaters, although the south winds kept the albatross numbers lower than usual (15-20 as opposed to 135 at once on the 15th) and brought us no deep-water species. Northwest winds should change that. There are also tons (literally) of Humpback Whales out there now, with bird flocks all around them. Marine productivity seems very good off Mendo at the moment.
Hope to see you out there this weekend or later in the summer or fall.
Happy migrant birding, Peter
On 3/26/2026 8:29 AM, Peter Pyle wrote: > Greetings Bay Area - > > We still have some space available for our full day pelagic trips on > April 4th and 26th out of Noyo Harbor in Fort Bragg. We are already > seeing up to 135 Black-footed Albatrosses at once over Noyo Canyon and > I had a Parakeet Auklet just 2-2.5 miles from shore on March 15th. Our > most recent trip reports are here: > > https://noyopelagics.com/trip-reports/ > > Last year in April we had over 600 albatrosses on one trip including > several Laysans and a Short-tailed, and throughout May we had dozens > of Pterodroma petrels of three species plus two more Short-tailed > Albatrosses. > > We have also just set up a half-day trip on April 19th. Half the boat > will be filled with college students so if you are interested in this > one I wouldn't wait too long. > > You can sign up for these and other trips this year at > > https://noyopelagics.com/#calendar > > Hope you'll join us for one or more trips. Happy spring birding! > > Peter > > On 3/10/2026 12:23 PM, Peter Pyle wrote: >> Greetings Bay Area on this nice spring day (for upwelling and the >> ocean, at least...). >> >> Our buttons for full-day Noyo Pelagics trips are now ready for >> sign-ups for the previously mentioned dates: >> >> https://noyopelagics.com/ >> >> We had a fine half-day trip on March 1st including an unexpected >> Scripps's Murrelet and early Humpback Whales (see report at the link >> above). We will be offering more half-day trips on a short-notice >> (7-10 day) basis as good-weather windows approach; if you may be >> interested in these you can monitor Mendobirds or sign up for the >> Mendo-Pelagics io group serve >> (<https://groups.io/g/Mendocino-Pelagics>). See >> https://noyopelagics.com/about-our-trips/ for more on our half-day, >> full-day, and educational trips. >> >> 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. Logan has also set up a >> Google calendar which he will finalize tonight 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 >> >> On 12/19/2025 7:36 AM, Peter Pyle wrote: >>> Greetings Bay Area birders - >>> >>> We have finalized our dates for full-day Noyo Pelagics trips (below). >>> >>> We are running 2-3 more trips in April-July due to great success >>> last year with albatrosses (up to 1000 Black-foots, many Laysans, >>> and three separate Short-taileds) and Pterodroma petrels (6+ >>> Hawaiians, 90+ Murphys, 15 Cook's, and one likely Herald) during >>> these months. I am also working with the organizers of pelagic trips >>> from Bodega Bay and Eureka to try and schedule some "runs" of >>> back-to-back-to-back trips over 3-5 days moving up or down the >>> coast. I have suggested the four dates below for these but they may >>> occur at other times. >>> >>> Our payment system for these trips at https://noyopelagics.com/ is >>> not yet set up. I'll send an announcement when it is, hopefully by >>> mid January. We wanted to get the dates out now so birders can start >>> thinking about joining us on one or more trips. Hope to see you at >>> Noyo in '26! >>> >>> Peter >>> >>> April 4th (Saturday) (Easter weekend) >>> April 26th (Sunday) >>> May 9th (Saturday) - coordinate with Humboldt and Bodega? >>> May 30th (Saturday) >>> June 14th (Sunday) - coordinate with Humboldt and Bodega? >>> June 26th (Friday) >>> July 20th (Monday) - coordinate with Humboldt and Bodega? >>> August 3rd (Monday) >>> August 30th (Sunday) - coordinate with Humboldt and Bodega? >>> October 17th (Saturday) >>> November 1st (Sunday) >>> >> >
