Date: 7/31/26 8:22 am From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Noyo Pelagics Monday August 3rd
There is still some slots available on Monday's full-day trip. The
weather forecast is for it to calm down after several days of NW winds
and it looks decent at the moment, with 5-10 knots nearshore and a shear
of 10-20 knot wind off shore. Some wind gets the birds moving in our
area and if the above holds it could be ideal.
Last weekend off Eureka there were still plenty of Cook's Petrels and a
late (or early?) Murphy's Petrel along with lots of Scripps's and a
couple of Guadalupe Murrelets. But the big story was storm-petrels, with
Ashy, Fork-tailed, Wilson's, Black, Least, and Leach's all recorded. One
large dark bird turned out to be a Tristram's Storm-Petrel, fourth
record for California and first for Humboldt County. Then it looks like
there were several very strong candidates for Townsend's Storm-Petrels,
a breeding species of Guadalupe Island, Mexico. This species disperses
north of California, possibly throughout state waters, but the paucity
of previous July pelagic trips and difficulty in identification has
prevented confirmed records of Northern California. We had a similar
candidate on our July Noyo trip last year, and will be on high alert for
these on Monday.
All of the usual fun pelagic birds, albatrosses, shearwaters (including
Buller's), all three jaegers, skuas, both phalaropes, and Sabine's Gulls
should be in good supply. There are also 100s of Humpbacks out there now
and August is a good month for Blue and Fin Whales, dolphins, and etc.
Salmon and Blue Sharks and Ocean Sunfish (some of them 8-10' long) have
also been around.
To reserve a slot: https://noyopelagics.com/. Or if you want to just
show up Monday at 7:30 with cash, check, or card (cost is $185), we'll
be able to get you aboard.
