Summer Pelagics Report
Short-tailed Albatross photo by Tim Bray
We have had an unbelievable run of pelagics this spring and summer on the Kraken, operated by Anchor Charter Boats. The Short-tailed Albatross on 27 April (reported in the May Black Oystercatcher) was only the first of three seen on consecutive trips - unprecedented off California where this bird is still considered a great rarity. May and June trips were marked by Pterodroma petrels, open-ocean birds that are very rarely seen less than 40 miles offshore and are eagerly sought by birders. July brought a swarm of storm-petrels and a shearwater from the Atlantic.
For the first time ever, we ran two all-day pelagics in May, plus a half-day. On 9 May we had four Murphy’s Petrels and two Hawaiian Petrels, plus an early South Polar Skua, a Short-tailed Shearwater, and a very friendly Short-tailed Albatross that stayed with the boat for more than three hours.
Short-tailed Albatross close up photo by Tim Bray.
On 11 May we had dozens of Murphy’s Petrels passing right by the boat, sometimes right overhead, an amazing sight. Plus of course, yet another Short-tailed Albatross. And on the 24 May half-day trip we only got about six miles out before the Murphy’s Petrels began zipping by, so we stopped to put out a slick and drew in a Hawaiian Petrel, a Laysan Albatross, and one Herald Petrel – a bird that has never been documented off the west coast of the US. (We are still awaiting acceptance by the Rare Birds Committee.)
Heading out on 15 June we were almost immediately treated to a gorgeous Tufted Puffin in full breeding plumage that circled the boat three times. Then we got into the Pterodroma zone again, this time with both Murphy’s and Cook’s Petrels; the first time Cook’s have been seen on a pelagic here. Perhaps even more remarkable was a Short-tailed Shearwater, well photographed sitting on the water, the first summer record for California.
On 15 July we started with a Long-tailed Jaeger only about three miles out, a bird that is normally only found far offshore. Before the day was done we had the “Skua Slam” of all three Jaegers (Long-tailed, Parasitic, Pomarine) plus two South Polar Skuas. But the birds of the day were storm-petrels, which were seemingly everywhere we looked, and we were able to identify five species. The most abundant were Ashy, Fork-tailed, and Leach’s (another bird rarely seen in nearshore waters). Black Storm-petrel was spotted twice; this is only the second time this species has been documented off Mendocino. And near the end at the last slick, a sharp-eyed birder spotted one Stormy, among the several in view, that seemed smaller and flew differently; photos proved it was a Least Storm-petrel, a first Mendocino record and the northernmost record for this subtropical bird.
Tufted Puffin photo by Tim Bray
The next day we found Humpback Whales (including one calf), Fin Whales, Salmon Sharks, a Blue Shark, Mola mola, Velella velella, more Storm-petrels, and a fly-by Manx Shearwater – all on a half-day trip only a few miles out.
Our next trips are scheduled for August 15 (all-day) and 17 (half-day). Right now, there are spaces available on both, so sign up here and join us for another marine adventure:
eBird checklists with many photos:
May 9: https://ebird.org/tripreport/367445
May 11: https://ebird.org/tripreport/370715
May 24: https://ebird.org/tripreport/398324
June 15: https://ebird.org/tripreport/385981
July 15: https://ebird.org/tripreport/396250
July 16: https://ebird.org/tripreport/395656
