Date: 7/8/26 11:18 am From: Logan Kahle via groups.io <logan...> Subject: [pen-bird] More July Boats off NorCal!
Hi All,
As Alvaro just posted about, this Summer off California has been HOT with good birds! Not only is there a huge pulse of Cook's Petrels off our coast that has been ongoing for at least 3 weeks (including hundreds off our coast in late June), there are also well above average numbers of Scripps' Murrelets and many other pelagic goodies.
Traditionally, late July is THE TIME for mega-rarity seabirds off of Northern California. With way fewer than 100 trips run all time in that period, the highlights have been staggering: Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, Chatham Albatross, Salvin's Albatross, Tristram's Storm-Petrel, Gray-faced Petrel, Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Great Shearwater, and Short-tailed Albatross are just some of the amazing rarities that have been found in this time period off of Northern California, not to mention it being a great time for Cook's and Hawaiian Petrels, Storm-Petrels of all kinds (last July had a trip with 7 species of Storm-Petrel!), and so much more. If you are looking for a chance at something really crazy out there, late July and early August are arguably the best times of the entire year off of Northern California.
Anyways, for those interested in getting offshore we have more boats off of Northern California this July than probably ever before. In addition to the two boats Alvaro mentioned out of Half Moon Bay (July 18th, July 25th), are two trips out of Eureka, Humboldt county: July 18th with Redwood Regional Audubon Society (see https://www.rras.org/ for more details) and July 25th with Rob Fowler (email <migratoriusfwlr...> for details), as well as July 20th out of Noyo Harbor with Noyo Pelagics ( https://noyopelagics.com/#calendar) and again on August 3rd out of Noyo as well.
These more Northernly California ports of Eureka and Noyo tend to be good for Hawaiian Petrels and other Pterodromas, rare Albatross, rare alcids and much more, and you really never know what you might see out there! Last year there were July boats off of Noyo and Humboldt with pretty great success: Noyo: https://ebird.org/tripreport/396250 (including Mendocino's first Least Storm-Petrel) Eureka: https://ebird.org/tripreport/397950 (including a Parakeet Auklet)
If you're interested in coupling two trips to the north, Humboldt on July 18th and Noyo on July 20th are right next to each other. Not to mention, the birding on land up there can be excellent this time of year as well. Mendocino Coast Audubon Society also offers free camping for anyone participating before Noyo pelagic trips. Reach out to Noyo Pelagics for more info!
