Date: 8/24/26 10:05 am From: Tim Bray via groups.io <tbray...> Subject: [CALBIRDS] Noyo Pelagic Aug 30
From Peter Pyle (with some additions by me):
We still have some room on our pelagic trip on Sunday, August 30th, from Noyo Harbor in Fort Bragg (Mendocino County). Northwest winds continue and are predicted for some days between now and then, but they are generally not big blows, in the range of 10-15 knots, as typically occurs in late August. Upwelling produced by these winds has kept water temperatures off the Mendocino coast in the 56-58 degree range, with warmer water associated with El Niño moving up from the south. This sometimes creates "edge" currents where two bodies of water collide, concentrating food and the birds, as we found on the August 3 trip.
New and interesting birds continue to be seen on our trips. Following positive comments from outside reviewers, we have accepted records of 6 Townsend's Storm-Petrels observed and photographed on our trip of August 3rd. Summaries of these and other recent records, representing the first documented occurrences of this species in northern California, are in the eBird Checklists, for example here:
Late August is a great time for a variety of all the regular species (albatrosses, shearwaters, jaegers, skuas, Sabine's Gulls, Arctic Terns, phalaropes, etc.) and we anticipate finding good numbers of storm-petrels as we did on our August 3rd trip (five species including Wilson's). Nazca Boobies seem to be having an incursion year, with 2 in SF, 3-4 off Mendocino, and one off Humboldt yesterday, so far. Other southern or warmer-water species such as Cocos Boobies and Guadalupe Murrelets have also been seen in relatively good numbers off the central and northern coasts of late, and we anticipate that these and other unusual species will be attracted to the cooler waters of higher marine productivity off Mendocino, surrounded by warm-water "oceanic desert" moving in. Finally, you never know, there's always the chance for a 'mega-rarity' on any pelagic trip.
We still have scholarships available for high school and college students, sponsored by Mendocino Coast Audubon, for free tickets. If interested in one of these, contact Tim Bray ( <audubon...> ). MCAS has also reserved a campsite at MacKerricher State Park for the night of the 29th-30th. If interested in taking advantage of this, contact Roger Adamson ( <radamson...> ).
