Date: 4/15/26 5:16 pm From: Denise Hamilton via groups.io <2napabirders...> Subject: [northbaybirds] Bodega Bay & California Bird Atlas
Hi all,
David and I were at Bodega Bay on the 8th. We stopped behind Patrick's Saltwater Taffy store and noticed 2 N. Rough-winged Swallows - one sitting on top of the chain-link fence that surrounds the cement pad that has the fish sculpture and another going into an old rusty pipe in the wall of the cement pad (facing toward the Tides restaurant.) The one in the pipe stayed in there a long time and then it came out and they both flew away together. We are not sure whether or not it was just checking out a nest site OR if they are nesting in there. We probably won't be going back there anytime soon, so I am wondering if any of you that go out there more often (AND are helping out on the CA Bird Atlas) you could stop and check them out over the next few weeks.
with picture of the pipe included. This was at low tide, so could walk out there by the pipe. Not sure how high the water level is when the tide is up there.
Date: 4/12/26 8:27 pm From: Lisa Hug via groups.io <lisahug...> Subject: [northbaybirds] Bodega Bay Golden-plover
Hi everyone,
So, this week there has been a golden-plover at Bodega Bay. It was
originally thought to be a Pacific Golden-plover but through some online
discussions, the thinking has now changed to American Golden-plover. I
don't think the bird is still in the harbor. The photographs are not
great but they are on eBird. I changed my ID to AGPL but since the
photos are not great, I may in the end change my ID again to PGPL/AGPL.
One photo on eBird (not mine) does show 4 primaries extending past the
longest tertial - which should be a good field mark for American Golden
Plover (Pacific should only have 2 or 3 primaries extending beyond the
longest tertial). But, then there is the question: What if the longest
tertial was actually still growing? Then it could expose more
primaries, right?
Anyway, technical jargon aside, the bird is very most likely an American
Golden-plover, but given that the bird was always far away and in dim
light - calling it an American/Pacific might be the best call of all!
Happy Spring Birding! Go look at some colorful spring migrants! Like
Orioles or Kingbirds or something.
We presented this slideshow before with Marin Audubon on zoom (some sound
problems).and we are excited to present it live and talk about and answer
questions about all the amazing places we birded in North America and
Hawaii.
Bird with honor, Larry
[image: Screenshot 2026-04-09 at 4.49.44 PM.jpeg]
Date: 4/2/26 4:23 pm From: Denise Hamilton via groups.io <2napabirders...> Subject: [northbaybirds] Have you ever seen the "Weed Ceremony" of Western/Clark's Grebes?
Hi all,
David and I went to the north arm of Lake Hennessey (off Conn Valley Rd. in
Napa Co. on March 30, in hopes of finding the Least Bittern discovered on
March 27. That did not happen I'm sorry to say. But way up on the
northern tip of the lake 20+ Western & Clark's Grebes had gathered and
there were MANY courtship dances happening! Of course, the section of the
trail we were on had a lot of leafed-out trees along the edge of the lake
so we had to keep moving around to watch the grebes, but they were so close
to us! We both zeroed in on a pair of Western Grebes in an opening where
David could take some pictures and we noticed that both of them went under
water and came up with beaks full of grass! And happily, David caught it
all on a video! You can see it here: California Bird Atlas Checklist - 30
Mar 2026 - Lake Hennessey--north arm - 40 species (+1 other taxa)
<https://ebird.org/atlascalifornia/checklist/S314956936>
We both stared at each other and wondered, 'what did we just see??' I
looked it up in the Birds of the World site and found the answer (here is a
shortened-up version of the article section):
Weed Ceremony... Late in pair-formation.. Weed-diving follows, in which
bird in neck-stretched posture suddenly dives vertically, head entering
water near base of neck, bird brings organic material from below, surfacing
in erect posture. When one bird dives, second usually does also. When both
birds have weeds, they approach, feet churning, and rise into vertical
posture with most or all of body out of water, necks stretched upward,
bills raised 20° to 80° above horizontal birds move slowly forward or
spiral, heads may be rotated intermittently from side to side. Display ends
when one bird discards weeds with quick head shakes and resumes horizontal
body posture; other then follows suit. Bob-preening follows, birds swimming
side by side ...
Between all the dances and the 'weed ceremony', which was a first for us,
we couldn't have asked for a better outing!
We are wondering if any of you have seen this before.
At home we still have plenty of White a & Golden-crowned Sparrows; Rufous
Hummers are starting to appear, and a beautiful male Hooded Oriole who is
at some neighbor's palm tree has found our feeder and pond! And hopefully
W. Bluebirds and Oak Titmice will have successful nesting in our two boxes.
Happy Spring birding!
Denise and David Hamilton
Napa
Date: 3/28/26 4:27 am From: Alvaro Jaramillo via groups.io <chucao...> Subject: Re: [northbaybirds] imm. White-tailed Eagle
Dan
I get to see a lot of White-tailed Eagles in Japan every winter. Your description actually does not sound like one. Juvenile and young White-tails have substantial white on the tail, they also look super mottled below. They also show pale on the underwings, in the wingpit like a Bald Eagle. I don’t know what you saw, but it does not sound like a White-tailed.
From: <northbaybirds...> <northbaybirds...> On Behalf Of Dan Nelson via groups.io
Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2026 2:59 AM
To: <northbaybirds...>
Subject: [northbaybirds] imm. White-tailed Eagle
Birders,
Today March 27 at 5:30pm while walking Limantour Beach, and standing near the 'main' beach access I was looking West and noticed a large raptor flying toward me, as if it had flown directly over water from the Fish Docks area to the W. on Outer Point Reyes. It flew directly overhead crossing the beach area and continuing E. toward Inverness Ridge. Flapping steadily and constant, only once circling over the park residence E. of the beach. In recent years, it's not uncommon to witness the local-breeding pair of Bald Eagles fly out over the ocean to rob Ospreys of their catch, returning over the beach on a similar flight trajectory. But I was surprised to see (through the bins) that this bird was mostly dark, with NO obvious white head/tail, or any whitish found on the body or wing linings as a typical young Bald Eagle would have. But....interestingly before I raised the bins, I was puzzled by the size, thinking (hahaha) Common Raven- due to a noticeably wedge-shaped tail. "Well since it's obviously NOT a BALD Eagle, it's a Golden Eagle right?" My thoughts at the time. But it just didn't look like any Golden I've ever seen. The body seemed darker than the browns I expect on a typical Golden. While the body/underwings were fairly uniform with minimal "mottling" I noticed, for sure, that the tail, and only the tail (underside is all I could see) was a shade lighter and "creamier" than the rest of the body. That was when I ruled out Bald and Golden and concluded I was looking at my first White-tailed Eagle. Unfortunately no photos. Seemed headed for Tomales Bay, maybe Bolinas or South. Hopefully others may get on this special bird. - Dan Nelson, Petaluma
Date: 3/27/26 11:58 pm From: Dan Nelson via groups.io <birdsurf64...> Subject: [northbaybirds] imm. White-tailed Eagle
Birders,
Today March 27 at 5:30pm while walking Limantour Beach, and standing near the 'main' beach access I was looking West and noticed a large raptor flying toward me, as if it had flown directly over water from the Fish Docks area to the W. on Outer Point Reyes. It flew directly overhead crossing the beach area and continuing E. toward Inverness Ridge. Flapping steadily and constant, only once circling over the park residence E. of the beach. In recent years, it's not uncommon to witness the local-breeding pair of Bald Eagles fly out over the ocean to rob Ospreys of their catch, returning over the beach on a similar flight trajectory. But I was surprised to see (through the bins) that this bird was mostly dark, with NO obvious white head/tail, or any whitish found on the body or wing linings as a typical young Bald Eagle would have. But....interestingly before I raised the bins, I was puzzled by the size, thinking (hahaha) Common Raven- due to a noticeably wedge-shaped tail. "Well since it's obviously NOT a BALD Eagle, it's a Golden Eagle right?" My thoughts at the time. But it just didn't look like any Golden I've ever seen. The body seemed darker than the browns I expect on a typical Golden. While the body/underwings were fairly uniform with minimal "mottling" I noticed, for sure, that the tail, and only the tail (underside is all I could see) was a shade lighter and "creamier" than the rest of the body. That was when I ruled out Bald and Golden and concluded I was looking at my first White-tailed Eagle. Unfortunately no photos. Seemed headed for Tomales Bay, maybe Bolinas or South. Hopefully others may get on this special bird. - Dan Nelson, Petaluma
Date: 3/26/26 8:29 am From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: [northbaybirds] Noyo Pelagics April 4 and 19
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:
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
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) >> >
