Saturday 5/24/25 half day – Noyo Canyon Mammal dedicated
A small group of 12 birders and ocean enthusiasts went out of Noyo Harbor, Fort Bragg, on a half-day (5-hour) pelagic trip with Captain Richard Thornton of Anchor Charters and Noyo Pelagics. The weather forecast did us no favor today, as it under-called the actuality, consistent 20+ knot winds and a mixed S and NW swell the created what we unhappily refer to as a “washing machine effect” (e.g., bumpy and lurchy). Never-the-less, spirits were high as we soon ran into shearwaters and Black-footed Albatrosses, 2-3 miles from shore. Richard’s skilled negotiation of the conditions resulted in only minor mal-de-mer by a couple of participants, although the going was quite slow, and we only made it to 6 miles from shore on the day, including less than an hour at the very head of Noyo Canyon.
Chumming is a form of art and science, and I’ve been eager to improve my here-to-fore lousy skills. Today we only had popcorn, four theater-sized bags which I discovered at the dollar store at the Boatyard Shopping Center in Fort Bragg, for only $1.25 apiece! As we passed the outer Noyo buoy the seas were devoid of birds, so I started scanning for a gull (any gull!) and finally spotted an adult Western sitting on the water about a quarter-mile away. Due to all of the filleting from the Noyo sports fishing fleet, the gulls have learned that a hands-throwing motion from the stern can result in food and, sure enough, when I tried this the WEGU got off the water and headed our way. I patiently waited until it was at the perfect distance and threw out my first popcorn kernel, resulting in it wheeling down to pick it up. What this one wheel does is summon all gulls from within sight, perhaps 1-3 miles, and they get up and head over at fast pace. Then all gulls within another 1-3 miles see these gulls arise with purpose, and they head over as well, and so it spreads like concentric rings. Very soon we had 30-40 gulls following the boat, which I kept in place for the rest of the trip with a few popcorn kernels at a time. I believe this gull flock was a key to our success today.
Pterodroma. PTERODROMA! Just 5-6 miles from shore a member of this iconic and mysterious genus came in and arced high above the gull flock in our wake, unfortunately right in the sun’s glare as we headed NNW at 0930 a.m. We have had a lot of luck recently with Murphy’s and Hawaiian Petrels, both of which we saw later on this trip (15 and 1 respectively) but this one did not fit either in shape and flight style, being skinnier and more buoyant than a MUPE but smaller than a HAPE. We caught a glimpse of some white on the underparts, eliminating a pure MUPE, but it was certainly not a HAPE and so the urgency to get photos kicked in. Despite the rocking boat and pandemonium of it all, three of us managed to get photos as it headed west, from bad into better lighting. Early consensus from Pterodroma experts is that it was either a Herald Petrel, never before recorded in California, or a hybrid of this with Murphy’s Petrel, which some of us (but generally not listers) find just as intriguing as its being a pure bird (google “Mendocino shrike”). Photos (listed as “Pterodroma sp.” at present) are here and there will be more discussion to follow, without doubt.
Observing 17 Pterodroma petrels within 6 miles of shore is also a first for California. The NW winds undoubtedly were a factor, as was the chum flock. But we’re learning that the head of Noyo Canyon is a very special place, where the “deep water” in which these birds and albatrosses forage, usually beyond the continental shelf, seems to flush up the canyon and over coastal waters, bringing these species much closer to shore here than elsewhere in California. By the way (ho hum), we also saw 30-40 Black-footed Albatrosses, a Laysan Albatross, 10-15 Sabine’s Gulls, a couple of Ashy Storm Petrels, and 16 Common Terns headed north. We greatly look forward to exploring this area further on future full-day and half-day trips, our next ones being on 15 and 16 June, respectively (noyopelagics.com). We look forward to having you join in for the art, science, and fun.
Peter
Murphy’s (top) and Hawaiian (bottom) Petrels. Roger Adamson and Peter Pyle
