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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hamhed" data-source="post: 3666493" data-attributes="member: 70825">Day 2An hour birding on the Ventura beach in early morning produced expected species such as Brown Pelicans, Sanderlings, Willets, Western and Herring Gulls and a single Snowy Plover.  We boarded the boat to take us to the Channel Islands (<a href="http://islandpackers.com/santa-cruz-island/" target="_blank">http://islandpackers.com/santa-cruz-island/</a>) and ferried across first to Scorpion Anchorage then Prisoner’s Harbor, where we disembarked.  A faint, smoky haze was visible from the massive wildfires in upper Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.  Species on the way there included the hoped for Black-vented Shearwater, our usual poor view of a flying away Cassin’s Auklet, one Common Murre, a number of Brandt’s Cormorants and the distinctive Heermann’s Gull.We birded the next several hours with our new friend from LA, Taylor, whom we met on the boat.  First bird was the endemic sub-species of the Orange-crowned Warbler.  Hearing the Island Scrub Jays was not so difficult but initial views were limited.  Sparrows seen included our only second sightings of Golden-crowned Sparrows, which are fairly common wintering birds in California.  We had no trouble seeing the endemic and photogenic Island Foxes.  After some time on our own, a pair of Nature Conservancy volunteers led us on a hike with better Scrub Jay views along with distant views of the channel.  Other notable birds were Acorn Woodpeckers, Spotted Towhees, Hermit Thrushes and a pair of bold Ravens.Bird lists here:<a href="http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41099762" target="_blank">http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41099762</a><a href="http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41109636" target="_blank">http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41109636</a><a href="http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41114013" target="_blank">http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41114013</a></blockquote>

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