Date: 6/25/26 7:14 pm From: larry nigro via groups.io <larrymtb...> Subject: [northbaybirds] Orioles!
Hi
We finally made it out to Pacheco Pond today. And despite wonderful views of breeding Great egrets in the big tree at the pull-out, baby Tree Sparrows squabbling up close, the highlights were definitely the orioles. Several Hooded Orioles, including one male feeding a juvenile and at least one male and female Bullock's graced the area near the Meditation Center and across Bel Marin Keys from the pond.
If you visit just look for this first year male Hooded on the Pacheco pond sign.
Best Larry [image: 6J0A6955.JPG][image: 6J0A6922.JPG]
FANTASTIC!!!!!!! Wish I could have been there. Hey, with numbers like that you gotta wonder if it is possible that a Pycroft’s Petrel could be in there. My experience with Pycroft’s in New Zealand is that they are extremely similar to Cook’s and unless you are specifically looking for them, live or in photos, you would not realize it. Check out eBird, vs Birds of the World. BOW has them spending the non-breeding season out in the north Pacific. Yet there NO records on eBird north of the equator. As in NONE. Obviously, this bird is not looked for away from the breeding areas, it just blends in and is lost once it moves north. I mention it, so that folks that have photos might want to scour their images and see if any birds are slightly darker with slightly different structure etc.
Just wanting to help make your trip a tad more awesome 😊. Check the photos for Pycroft’s. Eventually one will show up if the north Pacific is indeed their wintering area. It is all quite unclear.
From: <EBB-Sightings...> <EBB-Sightings...> On Behalf Of Logan Kahle via groups.io
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2026 4:22 PM
To: <northbaybirds...>; <sfbirds...>; <ebb-sightings...>
Subject: [EBB-Sightings] Marine Madness: Bodega Bay Pelagic Trip 6/21 Hundreds of Cook's Petrel's, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, putative TOWNSEND'S STORM-PETREL etc
Hi all,
Yesterday, 6/21 was a bodega pelagic everyone on board will remember for a long time. We embarked on the Surf Scooter, a boat that has lived in Bodega Harbor for years in the shadow of it's larger cousin the New Sea Angler. We left the harbor at 7am. June has always been a neglected time on the water off of Northern California, and a time that holds more intrigue and promise than almost any other to me. As we departed, we were greeted by flat birdless waters punctuated only by Common Murres and Pelicans for the first few miles offshore had some of us grumbling about the fear of a dead, slow June trip. But all this stopped when screams came out of "passerine!!" The boat stopped and we watched a tattered-looking passerine, seemingly a warbler circling the boat. After a minute or so of confusion as to it's identity it came close by the boat and we realized we were looking at a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER! The bird circled for about 5 minutes, taunting us and considering landing on the boat but eventually giving up and flying back east. We were in shock. We had already seen what we assumed would be the rarest bird of the day, and it wasn't even 8am! There is just a single previous record of Yellow-throated Warbler for Sonoma county, and this was the first to be photographed. Unbelievable.
As we charged offshore life picked up, a (summering?) Red-necked Phalarope flopped around about 10 miles off, and our first Pink-footed Shearwaters and Black-footed Albatross appeared. Then, about 20 miles off when we were reaching Bodega Canyon shouts came out of a Pterodroma: a COOK'S PETREL had appeared at the horizon! We waited around for a while. Some albatross came by, but with some patience we found several more Cook's Petrels.
We headed south and off of the continental shelf. What would ensue in the next hour was one of the most magical pelagic experiences I have ever encountered. A few miles from Bodega Canyon, we hit a wall of birds. Most were Sooty Shearwaters, but LOTS were COOK'S PETRELS! Dozens turned into hundreds, and before long we had seen upwards of 200 COOK'S PETRELS in one 45-minute stretch!! It had been years since Cook's had been seen from Cordell and Bodega, and this was a county bird for almost everyone on board. Through all of this, we picked up our first couple LAYSAN ALBATROSS for the trip as well as an interesting June first-summer LONG-TAILED JAEGER and several Ashy and Black Storm-Petrels.
As we proceeded south the Cook's thinned out somewhat but the birdlife did not. A FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER made a quick pass my the boat and our first pair of SCRIPPS'S MURRELETS were found on the water. As we neared the area right off Cordell Bank, the farthest area offshore we would reach today, we found a feeding frenzy of several Storm-Petrels. Among them was a small, blackish, white-rumped, short- and square-tailed bird that caught our attention. After a quite a bit of study, we concluded that the bird appeared to be a TOWNSEND'S STORM-PETREL, a potential first record for Sonoma/Marin and the farther north the species has ever been seen! It allowed good views for all, and eventually drifted off. We will be sending photos of the bird off for further discussion in the coming weeks.
The return leg was suitably spectacular. We re-entered the COOK'S PETREL zone, with hundreds all around us for over an hour. If you scanned the horizon, you were sure to see at least a few if not a dozen or more Cook's at any given time! Flocks of 15 and 20 were found resting on the water. Amidst all the commotion, a close HAWAIIAN PETREL bombed right by no more than 30' from the boat at times, and we ran into a group of BLUE WHALES feeding among large numbers of birds. On many boats, a Hawaiian Petrel would be the talk of the day, but not today! It was during this period that someone spotted a Murrelet off the front of the boat: a GUADALUPE MURRELET! Not only is this a rarity at this date, but it is all but unknown in June. Then again, there are no June boats, so who knows....As we headed back in another white-rumped Storm-Petrel crossed by, this one a clear nominate/northern LEACH'S STORM-PETREL, and not long after a stunning breeding-plumaged RED PHALAROPE landed by the boat.
As we kept cruising inshore, a group of DALL'S PORPOISE briefly investigated our vessel. By 20 miles off, we had re-entered the pelagic desert of inshore dead waters. But, it was spiced up by the occasional shearwater raft. As we neared shore, we found a dead Humpback Whale with a few Black Storm-Petrels nearby, just 5 miles off Bodega Head! Normally the species is rarely found inshore of 15-20 miles this far north. It looks like it will be a good summer for Black Storm-Petrels off NorCal!
It was an unbelievable day out there, with the quantity of quality birds, let alone the ubiquity of Cook's Petrels and the Yellow-throated Warbler making a truly unforgettable combination. Through the day, we estimated upwards of 400 Cook's Petrels, the most anyone on board had ever seen, even off of SoCal!
For those interested in getting offshore elsewhere this season, there is a Fort Bragg pelagic on June 26th that still has available spots. Noyo is often similar to Bodega, and there could well be many Cook's out of there too, and who knows what else! If you are interested in joining the additional Cordell Banks trips like the one above, message me off-list, as there may be options for July.
A Full list of pelagic birds and mammals is here (Birds inshore of about 5 miles off not included):
June and July are RARITY TIME off of Northern California. If you are interested in looking for rarer seabirds off our shore, consider signing up for a trip as with Noyo Pelagics ("the Murphy's Capital") out of Mendocino: https://noyopelagics.com/#calendar , Alvaro's Adventures trips out of Half Moon Bay, Monterey and more: https://www.alvarosadventures.com/ , Humboldt county pelagics with Rob Fowler (migratoriusfwlr at gmail.com <http://gmail.com> ) or Redwood Regional Audubon Society: https://www.rras.org/ or Monterey Seabirds: https://www.montereyseabirds.com/
Date: 6/9/26 11:10 am From: larry nigro via groups.io <larrymtb...> Subject: [northbaybirds] Babies at Las Gallons
Hi
Baby coots, gallinues, and Pied-billed grebes are out and about in the first pond at Las Gallinas if you need a 'cute' hit. You may want to stop because they are growing up fast.
Larry Nigro
ps Also in the same pond we had a fly-by of the least bittern. [image: 6J0A4705.JPG]
Date: 6/6/26 3:42 pm From: Lucas Corneliussen via groups.io <Lucascorneliussen04...> Subject: [northbaybirds] CORDELL BANK PELAGICS - August 23 and September 27
Hi All
This year boats have become a little bit more complicated running to Cordell Bank given the sale of the New Sea Angler out of Bodega Bay.
That said, two boats have been organized to run out of Sausalito up to Cordell Bank on the Outer Limits. This extremely fast catamaran will get observers to the bank by approximately 8:30 AM which will allow us 6 to 8 hours of traversing this magical location before we slide back down to port.
The dates for these boats are AUGUST 23 and SEPTEMBER 27.
These boats will leave port at 5 AM and get back to port around 5 PM. The price is $185.
Seats are limited but there are still spaces available on both boats.
Please send me your name and email and I will add you to my list accordingly!
There is GOOD NEWS. As some of you may have heard, Rick Powers recently sold his boat the New Sea Angler, scaring birders that Bodega Bay Pelagics would be no more. But fear not, there is still one opportunity to take a boat out of Bodega Bay this fall with Rick Powers to "the best place... in North America for pelagic birding" (Howell, 2015) --Bodega Canyon, Cordell Bank, and vicinity-- where in the past 5 years we have had WAVED ALBATROSS, TRISTRAM'S STORM-PETREL, WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER (X2!), GREAT SHEARWATER and MORE!
Redwood Regional Ornithological Society will be sponsoring one trip to Cordell Bank / Bodega Canyon with Rick Powers, aboard his boat the Surf Scooter. The date will be SUNDAY, AUGUST 30TH. Normally, boats from Bodega Bay are run aboard the New Sea Angler. Unfortunately, last year Rick sold the New Sea Angler, thus this trip will be aboard his luxury charter vessel the Surf Scooter. The Surf Scooter only holds 20 passengers, so sign up fast!
To reserve a seat, mail a check to: PETER COLASANTI / 524 EAST D ST. / PETALUMA 94952 Please make out the check to "REDWOOD REGIONAL ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY" for $235.00. Please excuse the elevated price, as the boat is a luxury (not a fishing) vessel and seats fewer passengers.
SEATS WILL BE FILLED IN THE ORDER CHECKS ARE RECEIVED!!
Date: 5/29/26 4:24 am From: Zac Denning via groups.io <zdenning1...> Subject: [northbaybirds] Sick Common Murre at Muir Beach
I’m tied up leading a bird retreat at Green Gulch (so unable to help), but
one of the retreat participants reported a beached Common Murre at Murre
Beach this afternoon. It might be worth someone calling International Bird
Rescue, to get advice on whether/how to assist this bird.
Date: 5/28/26 11:03 pm From: Lucas Corneliussen via groups.io <Lucascorneliussen04...> Subject: [northbaybirds] Outer Point - Point Reyes 5/28
Hi All,
I woke up late this morning to a text from Connor Cochrane about a singing White-eyed Vireo at Fish Docks, found earlier by Ivan Samuels. After overnight rain, conditions on the OP had looked less than ideal to my eye, but credit to those who got out at first light. By the time I arrived, the weather had cleared into a beautiful mix of overcast and open sky, draping the Point in perfect migrant conditions. I ended up spending most of the day birding with Ethan Monk, who was also present, and a revolving cast of local Marin birders. The day produced a strong variety of migrant passerines, with some personal highlights including the White-eyed Vireo, Black Swift, Blackburnian Warbler, and Black-throated Green Warbler. There was a noticeable turnover of birds throughout the day, with different subsets of species appearing across the various hotspots as various observers made their rounds. The ever-changing cast of characters made for dynamic and exciting birding from start to finish.
Today serves as a good reminder that days with less-than-ideal weather can sometimes surprise you! In this case, it produced some of the best birding the Outer Point has to offer. That said, in my experience, these days are more the exception than the rule! Either way, the message is simple: get out there and bird while spring migration lasts!
Below is a full list of today's migrants at the OP, each noted with their finder. Apologies if I missed anything or miscredited something!
Fish Docks
* WHITE-EYED VIREO (Ivan Samuels)
* 1 BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER
* 1 BLACK SWIFT
* 1 W-w Pewee
* 1 Swainson's Thrush
* 1 Townsend’s Warbler
* 2 W Tanager
* Harlequin Duck
Lighthouse
* 2 BLACK SWIFT
* 1 WHITE-THROATED SWIFT
* 2 Purple Martin
* Indigo Bunting
* Ovenbird (Brian Browne) - not seen by me
* 2 N Yellow Warbler
* 2 Swainson's Thrush
Nunes
* 1 Olive-sided Flycatcher
* 1 W Warbling Vireo
* 1 W-w Pewee
* 2 Western Fly
* 3 Cedar Waxwing
* 1 N Yellow Warbler
* 1 BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER
* 1 Tennessee Warbler (Connor Cochrane)
* 1 BREWERS SPARROW (Mark Stephenson) - not seen by me
* 1 Yellowthroat
* 3 Swainson's Thrush
Drakes
* 1 W Warbling Vireo
* 1 Oriole sp (C. Cochrane) - not seen by me
* 1 BLACKPOLL WARBLER (Cedric Duhalde/Josiah Clark & crew) - not seen by me
* 1 Tennessee Warbler (Connor Cochrane) - not seen by me
Mendoza
* 1 N Yellow Warbler
* 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Connor Cochrane) - not seen by me
* 1 Western Fly
* 1 W-w Pewee
* 2 Cedar Waxwing
* 1 yellowthroat
* 1 Swainson's Thrush
Spalleta
* 1 W-w Pewee
* 1 N Yellow Warbler
* 1 Northern Parula (Connor Cochrane) - not seen by me
* 1 Purple Martin (C. Cochrane) - not seen by me
Elsewhere on OP
* Red-eyed Vireo
* Lawrence’s Goldfinch (Brian Browne) - not seen by me
