Date: 6/15/26 7:36 am From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Noyo Pelagics 6/14 another good one
Weather was predicted to be calm, to the relief of some and sadness of
others. But we had the best of both worlds, flat seas for the trip out
and back and enough wind between 20 and 30 miles offshore to bring in
many birds of interest.
Highlights:
-20-25 Murphy's Petrels with the usual fantastic looks of this ultimate
species - one buzzed those on the bow, within reach.
One of them that looked like an adult Brown Booby. A hybrid? Some
consternation to follow but a beautiful bird in any case. Stellar photos
soon.
6-8 Scripps's Murrelets, 2-3 Black Storm-Petrels, 3-4 Laysan
Albatrosses, 50+ Black-footeds, 100s of Cassin's Auklets, South Polar
Skua, 1000s of shearwaters, etc.
The unexpected surprise of the day: two Ancient Murrelets headed north.
In the mammal department, feeding and lunging Humpbacks surrounded by
swirls of Pacific White-sided Dolphins and at least one Northern Right
Whale Dolphin (and hundreds of swirling shearwaters). 3-4 Northern Fur
Seals and some 6-8 Northern Elephant Seals including a mammoth male with
a flat nose that may engender a bit more consternation.
June is an interesting though poorly covered month off our coast. We
were in the short window in which there were no Sabine's Gulls, terns,
or phalaropes. Only one Pacific Loon. Last month we estimated
100,000,000 by-the-wind sailors (Vellela vellela) along our route. This
trip, zero. Where did they go? Always something to ponder!
All aboard had a fantastic time. Trip report with photos in a few days.
We are a bit short of sign-ups for our next trip, June 26th, so will be
pushing hard in the next few days (we want to make sure the skipper can
make as much on us as he can fishing!). So please consider joining us
and sign up soon if interested: https://noyopelagics.com/
