Date: 12/7/24 5:17 pm From: Tim Bray via groups.io <tbray...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Short-tailed Albatross, Noyo Canyon
7 December 2024 - Sean Thornton, captain of the Telstar, sent me a photo
and video clearly showing a young Short-tailed Albatross: larger than
adjacent Black-footed, all dark brown plumage, huge pink bill. He was
running a fishing charter out to the upper Noyo Canyon area, only a few
miles from Noyo Harbor, Fort Bragg. Unfortunately the weather is turning
sour tonight, winds and seas coming up, so no chance of a chase boat
tomorrow.
Dickcissel continues today in Elk but still no tree sparrow. Also had the Lucy’s Warbler about 2 pm at the bottom of the hill from the Princess parking lot in Noyo Harbor. Thanks Peter for the spot. It was with the usual warblers.
> On Dec 1, 2024, at 6:12 PM, Timothy Steurer via groups.io <tsteurer1956...> wrote:
>
> The Dickcissel and White-throated Sparrow were still in the same spot north of the parking lot today, in Elk, Sunday afternoon. The female Barrow’s Goldeneye was still in the second pond off the beach at the creek mouth below. No sign of the American Tree Sparrow.
>> On Nov 28, 2024, at 2:15 PM, George Gibbs via groups.io <ggibbs...> wrote:
>>
>> This morning about 8:30 I re-found the Dickcissel associating with sparrows in the coyote bush and other scrubby vegetation on the West side of the highway, generally west of the Elk Garage (North of the parking lot for the beach).
>>
>> Good Birding
>>
>> George Gibbs
>> Ukiah
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
A bit before 3:30 Monday Dec. 2, Caspar Pond had a female Hooded Merganser, female Ruddy Duck, and a Horned? (I am wide open to correction here) Grebe joining the Coots.
The Dickcissel and White-throated Sparrow were still in the same spot north of the parking lot today, in Elk, Sunday afternoon. The female Barrow’s Goldeneye was still in the second pond off the beach at the creek mouth below. No sign of the American Tree Sparrow.
> On Nov 28, 2024, at 2:15 PM, George Gibbs via groups.io <ggibbs...> wrote:
>
> This morning about 8:30 I re-found the Dickcissel associating with sparrows in the coyote bush and other scrubby vegetation on the West side of the highway, generally west of the Elk Garage (North of the parking lot for the beach).
>
> Good Birding
>
> George Gibbs
> Ukiah
>
>
>
>
Date: 11/30/24 11:27 am From: Lisa D. Walker, (Feather Forestwalker) via groups.io <feather...> Subject: Re: [Mendobirds] Elk tomorrow
On 2024-11-29 1:16 pm, Lisa D. Walker, (Feather Forestwalker) via groups.io wrote: > Hi all! Does anyone feel like riding with me to Elk to look for the > Dickcissel? If so, please message me back. I can pick you up. Maybe we > could go for lunch after? I will bring seed, as suggested by Todd > Easterla and maybe we'll get lucky and re-find the American Tree > Sparrow, too! > > > Lisa Walker, Fort Bragg/Cleone >
Thanks to Charlene for responding! We had a great morning in Elk!
We met in Little River, then headed to Elk to see if we could re-find the Dickcissel and maybe the American Tree Sparrow (that last would have been a Life Bird for me- alas, it was a no-show).... as soon as we got out of the car, Charlene spotted the Dickcissel. He's SO PRETTY! (Yes, I got photos). In the rather large flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows were a single White-throated sparrow, some White-crowned Sparrows, House Sparrows ( 🙁 ) and the occasional Song Sparrow. Apart from them were Bushtits and a single Fox Sparrow (Sooty). There were also a couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and tons of Band-tailed Pigeons flying north and then south - not sure if those were the same flocks or not - one was small, the other huge. Some European Starlings flew in to take a look and we also saw California Scrub Jays, an American Robin, and a Great Egret that landed in a cypress. We took a short walk for some scenic views of Elk/Greenwood State Beach from above, spotted a Bald Eagle that was flying past and landed on a distant offshore rock. That was fun. We stopped at the relatively new Elk House for a late breakfast. Now, that place has some EXCELLENT food and EXCELLENT service! We both had the Breakfast Sandwich which is made up of a really yummy buttermilk biscuit with eggs cooked just right, some cheese and a wee bit of chorizo to give it just a nice little bite of flavor. Really good. Their coffee is excellent. Did I say they had great service? 🙂 They do. After I dropped her back off in Little River, I drove into Fort Bragg to head to the Harbor Lite Lodge to look for the Lucy's Warbler and I found it! Got photos, too 🙂 Nice morning! 🙂
Date: 11/29/24 1:16 pm From: Lisa D. Walker, (Feather Forestwalker) via groups.io <feather...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Elk tomorrow
Hi all! Does anyone feel like riding with me to Elk to look for the
Dickcissel? If so, please message me back. I can pick you up. Maybe we
could go for lunch after? I will bring seed, as suggested by Todd
Easterla and maybe we'll get lucky and re-find the American Tree
Sparrow, too!
Date: 11/28/24 2:15 pm From: George Gibbs via groups.io <ggibbs...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Elk - Dickcissel continues
This morning about 8:30 I re-found the Dickcissel associating with sparrows in the coyote bush and other scrubby vegetation on the West side of the highway, generally west of the Elk Garage (North of the parking lot for the beach).
Date: 11/28/24 7:04 am From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Noyo Pelagic Trip Report, November 27th
Greetings Mendobirders,
The good thing about our half-day pelagic trips is that we can look at
the long-range marine forecast, pick a calm day a week or less in
advance, and, through the tentacles of Mendocino Coast Audubon Society
<https://www.mendocinocoastaudubon.org/> and the Noyo Center for Marine
Science <https://www.noyocenter.org/the-discovery-center>, get enough
sign-ups to make it a go. And so it went, on Wednesday the 27th, when
about 25 birders, marine mammal enthusiasts, and general lovers of
nature joined Captain Richard Thornton of Anchor Charters
(https://anchorcharterboats.com/), on the Kraken, for a half-day trip
from Noyo Harbor, Fort Bragg. After a week of storms and tempestuous sea
conditions, the skies dawned clear, the wind was light, and the swell
was low, resulting in a very pleasant trip for late November.
As we left the harbor we were treated to large groups of loons and
scoters, making their way south both high and low. Close to shore, most
of the loons were Red-throated, but as we got out 3-4 miles or so, the
flavor switched to Pacific. About five miles out we encountered a very
distinct boundary between water masses, or a "current line," along which
large mats of kelp, other vegetative debris, and even trees from the
recent river overflows had accumulated. Birds love these edges and so it
was, with loons, gulls, alcids, fulmars, and a Black-footed Albatross or
two, flipping back and forth to see which water mass held their
breakfast choice. Bonaparte's Gulls twirled on the surface, one of which
was surrounded by several twirling Red Phalaropes, to the avian
uninitiated resembling a parent teaching its offspring the facts of
survival (we've also seen this assumption with a female Evening Grosbeak
and American Goldfinches at feeders). On the far side of the current
line, the crystal clear water was full of 3-6" pyrosomes or "sea
pickles," hard-bodied pelagic creatures that reminded some of are older
participants, once our deckhand Corrine scooped up a few in a bucket for
close examination, of pink hair curlers.
Heading out over the deep pelagic waters of Noyo Canyon, we soon
encountered Pink-footed and dark shearwaters, including a distant
Flesh-footed that escaped good views, disappearing from view as it rode
the backside of a swell. At this time of year the ratio of Short-tailed
to Sooty Shearwaters can approach 50:50, and so it was on this day, with
several of each affording good ID study, including a Short-tailed
sitting on the water for 20 minutes next to a larger and more
bull-headed, dark Northern Fulmar. We put out a slick and soon had 10-12
albatrosses squabbling for leftover rockfish carcasses. These birds were
largely young ones, of pre-breeding ages, and lacking white to the
undertail coverts, as the older breeders are all participating in the
annual big Thanksgiving dance on the Hawaiian breeding grounds. Here and
all day we were afforded great study of gulls, in the slick and
following the boat for our trickles of stale popcorn. We recorded seven
species + 2 hybrid pairs x 3-4 age classes = 34 species-age combinations
of gulls. Fun stuff!
The mammalian highlight of the day was a pair of Orca that cruised by,
one with taller fin and one shorter, this time actually representing a
mother and offspring, or perhaps a teen-age male and his younger brother
out and about (we also enjoyed the resident family of river otters in
the harbor, along with three species of pinnipeds). The group of
Humpback, Fin, and Blue whales, that the skipper had been seeing up
until the week before, had apparently departed with the storm. Bird
highlights included excellent views of dozens of Rhinoceros and a few
Cassin's auklets, a Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, two male White-winged
Scoters flying north, a snappy first-year Black-legged Kittiwake, and an
even snappier adult Ancient Murrelet with full black throat and
incipient breeding plumes, an unusual plumage at this time of year, or
so most the field guides tell us. This murrelet came up the wake behind
us and plopped into the water close to the stern, not once, not twice,
but six times! What was it thinking? We could only surmise that it had
learned some foraging trick, finding zooplankton or some other marine
food in the churned up water under the wake, and (we were rather
confident) not there for the stale popcorn.
We may do this again this winter, beginning on December 21st for the
Fort Bragg Christmas Count. And we also hope to increase our volume of
half-day and full-day trips next year. So stay tuned to your local NGO
feeds. And happy holidays to all.
Date: 11/22/24 4:24 pm From: Lisa D. Walker, (Feather Forestwalker) via groups.io <feather...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Lucy's Warbler
I went to the stairs today at Harbor Lite Lodge.
Saw:
Orange-crowned Warbler
Townsend's Warblers
Yellow-rumped Warblers
LUCY'S WARBLER (and darn if I was unable to get a photo!)
among other birds:
Purple Finches
Golden-crowned Sparrows
Anna's Hummingbirds
American Robins
Common Ravens
(gull flyovers)
The Lucy's Warbler was very uncooperative for me and I was limited for
time... I stayed about 45 minutes trying to get photos. Spotted the bird
once as it popped up from the English Ivy flowers and then landed on the
balcony next to where I was standing. I raised the camera, missed the
shot. The bird flew back into the ivy, and then skulked away from view.
I saw it long enough to note:
Gray overall, a bit of brownish-red at the base of the tail, and its
tail twitch that was a bit longer than the similarly-sized Ruby-crowned
Kinglet. What a cute little bird!
Date: 11/19/24 8:53 am From: Tim Bray via groups.io <tbray...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Dickcissel refound
18 November 2024 - The Dickcissel found by Roger and me on Saturday was
refound by Catherine and me Monday morning, and again by two visiting
birders in the afternoon. It was associating with a large mixed flock of
mostly Golden-crowned and White-crowned sparrows in the brushy area just
north of the Greenwood Beach parking lot, directly across the highway
from the Elk Garage. Photos on the checklist:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S202942231
Date: 11/18/24 8:35 pm From: Roger Adamson via groups.io <radamson...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Lucy’s Warbler
About 3:30 this afternoon I refound the Lucy’s Warbler reported by Lorna and Mark Elness this morning. The bird was just on the south side of Harbor Lite Lodge on the public walkway that heads down to the harbor. It was in company of Townsend’s, Orange-crowned, a single very late Wilson’s, an Audubon’s Yellow-rumped and some Ruby-crowned Kinglets. I added photos on my eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S202970134 Thanks Lorna & Mark!
Roger Adamson
Date: 11/16/24 12:24 pm From: Roger Adamson via groups.io <radamson...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Dicksissel
Saturday about 10 am. Tim Bray and Roger Adamson found a Dicksissel in Elk behind the elk Store. Seemed to fly across to the west side of the road near the parking lot. Not refound.
RH
Date: 11/12/24 2:24 pm From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: Re: [Mendobirds] Pelagic Trip report, Fort Bragg, Monday Nov 11
OK, and I again forgot the highlight of the trip for the lucky - a
Horned Puffin that briefly buzzed the boat twice in the company of a
Rhinoceros Auklet. Todd Easterla, who birds Mendocino frequently (and
found the Manx Shearwater and Bobolinks earlier this fall), is doing a
California big year and this was his 500th species, without counting
introduced birds!
Plus another highlight was receiving photos of the Song Thrush from the
Farallones, while we were at our second slick 35 miles out! Technology
today...
Cheers, Peter
On 11/12/2024 2:18 PM, Peter Pyle via groups.io wrote:
> Greetings Mendobirders,
>
> About 30 birders and marine mammal enthusiasts went out of Noyo Harbor
> on 11/11, on the Kraken, with Captain Richard Thornton of Anchor
> Charters (https://anchorcharterboats.com/). We'd been fretting a bit
> all week, whether the weather would allow us to go, but the long-range
> forecasts proved surprisingly accurate 10 days out: S winds at 20
> knots overnight, rain ending at about 8 am, followed by rather light
> NW winds and clearing skies the rest of the day. Although a bit bumpy
> at first, due to opposing seas and swell, most of the day was just
> glorious.
>
> We headed to our usual spot at the head of Noyo Canyon, about 8 miles
> WNW of the harbor and 6 miles off the coast. As we arrived here the
> leaders were asked if we'd see any storm-petrels today, to which the
> self-proclaimed expert response was "doubtful at this time of year,
> perhaps a Fork-tailed." Not two minutes later a dark storm-petrel with
> a white rump crossed our bow, just 6-7 miles from shore. We debated
> the "back-of-the-camera" identification and had fantasies of a
> Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, since one was captured on the Farallones
> this fall. We then approached a small slick and there was another one
> dancing about on the water surface. Better looks and we were all
> satisfied that it and the previous bird were Leach's Storm-Petrels, a
> fairly hard-to-get species in California waters, unless on a
> repositioning cruise liner 80+ miles out. We concluded that the
> Leach's were here due to 1) our actually being 80 miles out,
> latitudinally, compared to the Bay Area, and 2) a warm water pool of
> 60+ degrees (F) that had been pushed close to shore by the overnight
> front. Leach's winter in warm temperate and tropical waters throughout
> the Pacific gyre, but not usually close to shore.
>
> We then headed out the canyon, tossing popcorn off the stern and
> accumulating a nice flock of gulls. By the end of the day we had
> tallied 33 species/age combinations of 7 species and 2 hybrid taxa, 34
> age/sex combinations and 8 species if we end up counting the newly
> split Vega Gull, of which we had a well-photographed first-year
> prospect feeding behind the boat at one of our stopping points. This
> was at the second of three slicks, some 35 miles from shore and near
> the "mouth" of the Noyo Canyon where it drops off into the abyss.
>
> Each slick seemed to have it's own signature, We put the first one out
> near the "elbow" of the canyon, about 15 miles from shore, where
> shearwaters of five species were cavorting about with a scattered
> school of Pacific White-sided Dolphins and a couple of whales. The
> shearwaters, a few Black-footed Albatrosses, and a couple of Leach's
> came in briefly, then all suddenly departed, leaving us with just the
> gulls. Huh? Among the brief flurry, though, were two Flesh-footed
> Shearwaters, pirouetting with their brethren Pink-footeds of similar
> size and flight style, and the first of 15-20 Short-tailed Shearwaters
> seen on this trip. Bythe end of the trip we had all on board picking
> out Short-taileds from the Sooties, with confidence, or so they were
> convinced by the self-proclaimed experts.
>
> The third slick, back in the vicinity of the first slick on our way
> back in, was a dud. The second slick, however, at our turnaround point
> 35 miles out, kept delivering new birds for an hour and 40 minutes.
> Included here were many more tubenoses: squadrons of fulmars of
> variable morphs, more albatrosses, Leach's, and Short-taileds, 5-6
> Buller's Shearwaters, and 5-10 of the tentatively non-promised
> Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels. Our previous observation of jaegers showing
> up in the afternoon held true again today. After seeing none all
> morning, suddenly multiples of them began streaming in to check out
> the fray and chase the gulls around, perhaps 25 in all by the time we
> left. The vast majority were Pomarines although we have one
> well-photographed Long-tailed and several other possible
> "non-Pomerines," that we'll have to sort through our 1000+ digital
> images of these jaegers to ID (or not). We again surmised that the
> jaegers chase the other seabirds around for their food only after the
> latter have complete their breakfasts and brunches.
>
> As in recent trips, Mola Mola "nurseries" were everywhere, and marine
> mammals were also in fair supply, with the aforementioned Pacific
> White-sided Dolphins, brief looks at Humpback, Minke, and possible
> Blue Whales, two Fin Whales that came right at us a la Moby Dick
> before veering away at the last minute, and a squadron of Northern
> Right Whale Dolphins riding the bow in crystal clear water for 15
> minutes. A couple of fur seals popped up, which we'll also have to
> check our photos to ID, as either Northern or Guadalupe, the latter
> becoming more common in our waters. Finally, a highlight for many of
> us was a Thresher Shark coming into our chum and fully viewable under
> water!
>
> There's talk of a follow-up, half-day trip before the end of November.
> The good thing about these, at this time of year, is that we can watch
> the weather forecast and pick a calm day a week or so out. If
> interested in this (cost $120) check in or sign up with
> https://groups.io/g/Mendobirds/topics or email Tim Bray (<tbray...>).
>
> Hope to see you out there!
>
> Peter
>
>
>
>
>
>
Date: 11/12/24 2:18 pm From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: [Mendobirds] Pelagic Trip report, Fort Bragg, Monday Nov 11
Greetings Mendobirders,
About 30 birders and marine mammal enthusiasts went out of Noyo Harbor
on 11/11, on the Kraken, with Captain Richard Thornton of Anchor
Charters (https://anchorcharterboats.com/). We'd been fretting a bit all
week, whether the weather would allow us to go, but the long-range
forecasts proved surprisingly accurate 10 days out: S winds at 20 knots
overnight, rain ending at about 8 am, followed by rather light NW winds
and clearing skies the rest of the day. Although a bit bumpy at first,
due to opposing seas and swell, most of the day was just glorious.
We headed to our usual spot at the head of Noyo Canyon, about 8 miles
WNW of the harbor and 6 miles off the coast. As we arrived here the
leaders were asked if we'd see any storm-petrels today, to which the
self-proclaimed expert response was "doubtful at this time of year,
perhaps a Fork-tailed." Not two minutes later a dark storm-petrel with a
white rump crossed our bow, just 6-7 miles from shore. We debated the
"back-of-the-camera" identification and had fantasies of a Band-rumped
Storm-Petrel, since one was captured on the Farallones this fall. We
then approached a small slick and there was another one dancing about on
the water surface. Better looks and we were all satisfied that it and
the previous bird were Leach's Storm-Petrels, a fairly hard-to-get
species in California waters, unless on a repositioning cruise liner 80+
miles out. We concluded that the Leach's were here due to 1) our
actually being 80 miles out, latitudinally, compared to the Bay Area,
and 2) a warm water pool of 60+ degrees (F) that had been pushed close
to shore by the overnight front. Leach's winter in warm temperate and
tropical waters throughout the Pacific gyre, but not usually close to shore.
We then headed out the canyon, tossing popcorn off the stern and
accumulating a nice flock of gulls. By the end of the day we had tallied
33 species/age combinations of 7 species and 2 hybrid taxa, 34 age/sex
combinations and 8 species if we end up counting the newly split Vega
Gull, of which we had a well-photographed first-year prospect feeding
behind the boat at one of our stopping points. This was at the second of
three slicks, some 35 miles from shore and near the "mouth" of the Noyo
Canyon where it drops off into the abyss.
Each slick seemed to have it's own signature, We put the first one out
near the "elbow" of the canyon, about 15 miles from shore, where
shearwaters of five species were cavorting about with a scattered school
of Pacific White-sided Dolphins and a couple of whales. The shearwaters,
a few Black-footed Albatrosses, and a couple of Leach's came in briefly,
then all suddenly departed, leaving us with just the gulls. Huh? Among
the brief flurry, though, were two Flesh-footed Shearwaters, pirouetting
with their brethren Pink-footeds of similar size and flight style, and
the first of 15-20 Short-tailed Shearwaters seen on this trip. Bythe end
of the trip we had all on board picking out Short-taileds from the
Sooties, with confidence, or so they were convinced by the
self-proclaimed experts.
The third slick, back in the vicinity of the first slick on our way back
in, was a dud. The second slick, however, at our turnaround point 35
miles out, kept delivering new birds for an hour and 40 minutes.
Included here were many more tubenoses: squadrons of fulmars of variable
morphs, more albatrosses, Leach's, and Short-taileds, 5-6 Buller's
Shearwaters, and 5-10 of the tentatively non-promised Fork-tailed
Storm-Petrels. Our previous observation of jaegers showing up in the
afternoon held true again today. After seeing none all morning, suddenly
multiples of them began streaming in to check out the fray and chase the
gulls around, perhaps 25 in all by the time we left. The vast majority
were Pomarines although we have one well-photographed Long-tailed and
several other possible "non-Pomerines," that we'll have to sort through
our 1000+ digital images of these jaegers to ID (or not). We again
surmised that the jaegers chase the other seabirds around for their food
only after the latter have complete their breakfasts and brunches.
As in recent trips, Mola Mola "nurseries" were everywhere, and marine
mammals were also in fair supply, with the aforementioned Pacific
White-sided Dolphins, brief looks at Humpback, Minke, and possible Blue
Whales, two Fin Whales that came right at us a la Moby Dick before
veering away at the last minute, and a squadron of Northern Right Whale
Dolphins riding the bow in crystal clear water for 15 minutes. A couple
of fur seals popped up, which we'll also have to check our photos to ID,
as either Northern or Guadalupe, the latter becoming more common in our
waters. Finally, a highlight for many of us was a Thresher Shark coming
into our chum and fully viewable under water!
There's talk of a follow-up, half-day trip before the end of November.
The good thing about these, at this time of year, is that we can watch
the weather forecast and pick a calm day a week or so out. If interested
in this (cost $120) check in or sign up with
https://groups.io/g/Mendobirds/topics or email Tim Bray (<tbray...>).
