July 20, 2026 – Deepwater Pelagic Birds And Mammals

This was a very pleasant trip among calm seas and under high tropical clouds. Except for a brief run through some fog over Noyo Canyon on the way out, horizons were crystal clear affording maximum scanning potential. We had a nice full boat, with about 32 participants with Richard Thornton and Anchor Charters, along with our trusty deckhands Dan and Mason; see the bottom of our last report for our salute to them for their hard work chopping fish and squid, fixing up our menhaden oil drip, and helping us at chum stops, as they do every trip.

Noyo Canyon was busy as always, with 1000s of shearwaters (including our first Buller’s of the year) and dozens of albatross, both on the way out and heading back in. A Tufted Puffin that had just shed its breeding attire graced us very close to shore. They must be breeding somewhere around here, but where? A couple of Elegant Tern pairs swung over, adults with their juvenile offspring, which they tow up from breeding colonies at this time of year, in some cases 100s of miles to our south, following the northward anchovy migration. Red and red-necked Phalaropes, jaegers, and Sabine’s Gulls had also returned in good numbers, in this case all moving south. Also zooming south overhead was an adult Red Knot in worn breeding plumage, the first for Mendocino County this fall.

But with the calm conditions we took the opportunity to blast offshore as far as possible, into warmer waters, making it out 30-35 miles (and even dipping into Humboldt County waters, closest point of land Cape Mendocino – yikes, we need to pay more attention!). As we were heading out, an albacore fisherman called Richard to report a booby over the boat, about 10 miles ahead, and so we quickly headed in that direction. It’s great to see our local fisherman paying attention, knowing when they have an interesting bird, identifying it, and giving us a call! The booby had moved on by the time we got there but their video later showed it to be a Masked or Nazca, probably a Nazca, which would make it the third one of the year off Noyo.

Nazca (probably) or Masked Booby over an albacore fishing boat; the one that got away. Photo: Jake of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing, Shelter Cove.

The fishermen also reported catching some albacore and this became a feature of the trip. Mason and Dan set out their gear and we caught four during our time out there. Word spreads fast these days, as by mid-day up to 10 additional albacore-fishing boats had arrived to troll the area.

As is always the case, bird densities were much lower offshore than in the canyon. We were hoping to find some Cook’s Petrels, which have been around in good numbers of late, but it seems they may have headed south by now, as there are few records of this species off our coasts in August, despite a lot of prior pelagic-trip effort. We were not disappointed overall, however, as these conditions were good for seeing murrelets and storm-petrels. We wound up with about a dozen murrelets, six of which we were able to pin down as Scripps’s, while Craveri’s and Guadalupe might also be expected this far out at this time of year. Some variation in the head patterns of the Scripps’s were noted, but we decided on this species in all cases. We tallied around 55 storm-petrels, most Ashies but also possible Black and Leach’s, a Fork-tailed, and the highlight for many aboard, a Wilson’s. There are only 5-6 previous records of Wilson’s Storm-Petrel in Mendocino and it was a “county tick” for several aboard who keep track. A year-old Arctic Tern, sitting on a log, was the first one of the summer/fall.

Scripps’s Murrelets showing variation in head pattern, Wilson’s Strom-Petrel, Arctic Tern. Photos Roger Adamson and Tim Bray (WISP).

Marine mammals were sparse this trip, but did include several Humpbacks, a possible Blue Whale, 2-3 Guadalupe Fur Seals, and a probable Pilot Whale spotted by the captain. This last species has occurred up here before, but only once as far as the Noyo Center Marine Science folks aboard could remember. During a fishing trip three days later on the 23rd, Richard encountered well over 100 Humpbacks “from Caspar to Albion and pretty much as far out as we can see. Probably about as many whales as I’ve ever seen!” So it seems the whales have returned and we will be planning some future half-day trips to enjoy this spectacle.

Identifying jaegers is always a fun challenge, as each species varies in its own way and age determination and molt status must be factored in at this time of year. Our “skua slam” included 7 Long-tailed, 2 Parasitic, 7 Pomarine, 3 South Polar Skuas, and, yes, 5 unidentified jaegers (probably more like 15 if we tallied every dot above the horizon). One adult Long-tailed turned the tables and began chasing a South Polar Skua! Brave soul that one. A nice year-old Pomarine followed us in as we turned toward shore. As is typical we had the most trouble with year-old Long-tailed/Parasitics. Ageing jaegers is all about the underwing coverts, barred in juveniles and year-old birds, partially barred in two-year-olds and some three-year old Pomarines, and solidly dark in adults.

Adult Long-tailed Jaeger that went after a South Polar Skua; year-old Long-tailed Jaeger with typical central rectrices for this age (and note the longer r2s); year-old Pomarine Jaeger. Photos Tim Bray and Roger Adamson (adult LTJA).

The jaeger that presented the best learning experience had fully barred underwing coverts but what appeared to be rounded central tail feathers (rectrices). This combination can be found in juveniles of all three species, but it is far too early for a juvenile to be this far south, so it had to be a yearling, of which only Pomarine would still have rounded central rectrices (“r1s”), those of Long-tailed and Parasitic being sharply attenuated. But it seemed too slight for a Pomarine. Answer: The central rectrices were missing in molt and it was the next pair out (“r2s”) that were slightly extended and rounded! Elongated r2s fits Long-tailed best, as did several other field marks, so a yearling Long-tailed Jaeger it was!

Year-old Long-tailed Jaeger, this one missing it’s central rectrices but showing rounded tips to the next pari out (r2s). Photo: Tim Bray.

We greatly thank Caitlin Chock for keeping the eBird Checklists and providing a nice write up in the trip report here.

There is always something to learn on our Noyo Pelagics trips. Our next one is for August 3rd and we hope you can join us to see what we see!  To sign up: https://noyopelagics.com/.