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Vacational Trip Reports
Southern California & East Texas Dec-Jan
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<blockquote data-quote="Xenospiza" data-source="post: 1380614" data-attributes="member: 23772"><p><u>Dec 19</u>: I had reservations for a trip to Santa Cruz Island with Island Packers (<a href="http://www.islandpackers.com/contact.html" target="_blank">http://www.islandpackers.com/contact.html</a>). I saw my first <strong>Eurasian Collared-Doves</strong> of the trip, which turned out to be widespread in both California and Texas.</p><p>Before taking the boat, I spent a few hours on the beach, checking the jetties for waders (<strong>Black Oystercatcher</strong>, <strong>Black Turnstone</strong> and my only <strong>Wandering Tattler</strong>) and cormorants (<strong>Brandt’s</strong> and <strong>Pelagic</strong>). I also saw my first <strong>American Pipits</strong>. The first new gull was an adult <strong>Short-billed (or Mew) Gull</strong>, rapidly followed by first-winter <strong>Glaucous-winged Gulls</strong>.</p><p>At 10 am, the boat left for Santa Cruz Island, and after a fun-filled introduction to the safety procedures we rapidly encountered the swell, which was fun too. There was one other jay-bound birder on the boat. After having left behind the shallow <strong>Western Grebe</strong>-filled waters (with <strong>1 Clark’s</strong> and <strong>2 Horned Grebes</strong> in the harbour), numerous <strong>Black-vented Shearwaters</strong> started passing the boat. From the top of the boat, careful attention to the bow resulted in sightings of the regular <strong>Cassin’s Auklet</strong>, <strong>Common Murre </strong>(maybe one day <strong>Pacific</strong>?) and <strong>Rhinoceros Auklet</strong> (all low numbers though), and a less-expected <strong>Ancient Murrelet</strong>. A single <strong>Harbor Porpoise</strong> was the first cetacean. The only time the boat stopped was (of course) for a group of three <strong>Gray Whales</strong>: interesting to see how you can see their trail through the water from their "slicks". The absence of dolphins was curious.</p><p>After a stop at Scorpion Anchorage, which is not the best place to go on land as a birder, but which has some nice kelp to watch, we headed to Prisoners Harbor. The wind now blew straight into the boat, the sea became quite choppy, and I got very wet when a large wave broke in a rather unexpected fashion. Luckily it was sunny.</p><p>We landed at Prisoners Harbor at 11.30, and then I was presented with a new dilemma: go birding on my own, which would mean I had to stay on National Park land, or go along with the hike towards Pelican Bay, which meant access to Nature Conservancy land? The guide claimed to know where to find the jay, and the possibility of leaving the hike at any time you wanted meant I chose for the latter. Of course this meant I had to put up with way too much talking, but on the other hand I also learnt something about the endemic plants of Santa Cruz Island, which I wouldn't have appreciated otherwise.</p><p>The guide obviously wanted to reach Pelican Bay, because she walked at high speed. No jays showed (and very few other birds). When we reached a very nice canyon about half way a (reintroduced) <strong>Bald Eagle</strong> flew across. These have been released to prevent Golden Eagle from resettling the island: these have all been relocated to protect the <em>Santa Cruz Island Fox</em> (no sign of these yet either). Luckily, a bit further along the path I managed a two-second sighting of an <strong>Island Scrub-Jay</strong> (which prompted the guide to acknowledge there was a pair there – something I had rather heard in advance).</p><p>Before reaching Pelican Bay we had to return to the boat. While most people took advantage of this to enjoy a picknick and a rest, I headed straight back, taking advantage of the now quiet path. This paid off when I found another jay in some low scrub, showing really well (but utterly unphotographable). I caught up with the other jayseeker who had only had a bad view, and managed to show her a (distant) jay flying off into a canyon. The guide took us to a place on National Park land (follow a willow-lined creek up from the harbor towards a house) that often held jays, but not today. I guess this could be the best place to find the fox, because I found a lot of excrement on the path (but of course not the animal itself). I could not find <em>Allen’s Hummingbird</em> in the Eucalyptus trees – I was very relieved that I had seen one yesterday!</p><p>On the way back, the light on the (invariably Black-vented) shearwaters was better than in the morning, but neither dolphins nor (more unfortunately) <em>Xantus’s Murrelets</em> (which I had not really counted on, but had been sighted recently) could be found.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Xenospiza, post: 1380614, member: 23772"] [U]Dec 19[/U]: I had reservations for a trip to Santa Cruz Island with Island Packers ([url]http://www.islandpackers.com/contact.html[/url]). I saw my first [B]Eurasian Collared-Doves[/B] of the trip, which turned out to be widespread in both California and Texas. Before taking the boat, I spent a few hours on the beach, checking the jetties for waders ([B]Black Oystercatcher[/B], [B]Black Turnstone[/B] and my only [B]Wandering Tattler[/B]) and cormorants ([B]Brandt’s[/B] and [B]Pelagic[/B]). I also saw my first [B]American Pipits[/B]. The first new gull was an adult [B]Short-billed (or Mew) Gull[/B], rapidly followed by first-winter [B]Glaucous-winged Gulls[/B]. At 10 am, the boat left for Santa Cruz Island, and after a fun-filled introduction to the safety procedures we rapidly encountered the swell, which was fun too. There was one other jay-bound birder on the boat. After having left behind the shallow [B]Western Grebe[/B]-filled waters (with [B]1 Clark’s[/B] and [B]2 Horned Grebes[/B] in the harbour), numerous [B]Black-vented Shearwaters[/B] started passing the boat. From the top of the boat, careful attention to the bow resulted in sightings of the regular [B]Cassin’s Auklet[/B], [B]Common Murre [/B](maybe one day [B]Pacific[/B]?) and [B]Rhinoceros Auklet[/B] (all low numbers though), and a less-expected [B]Ancient Murrelet[/B]. A single [B]Harbor Porpoise[/B] was the first cetacean. The only time the boat stopped was (of course) for a group of three [B]Gray Whales[/B]: interesting to see how you can see their trail through the water from their "slicks". The absence of dolphins was curious. After a stop at Scorpion Anchorage, which is not the best place to go on land as a birder, but which has some nice kelp to watch, we headed to Prisoners Harbor. The wind now blew straight into the boat, the sea became quite choppy, and I got very wet when a large wave broke in a rather unexpected fashion. Luckily it was sunny. We landed at Prisoners Harbor at 11.30, and then I was presented with a new dilemma: go birding on my own, which would mean I had to stay on National Park land, or go along with the hike towards Pelican Bay, which meant access to Nature Conservancy land? The guide claimed to know where to find the jay, and the possibility of leaving the hike at any time you wanted meant I chose for the latter. Of course this meant I had to put up with way too much talking, but on the other hand I also learnt something about the endemic plants of Santa Cruz Island, which I wouldn't have appreciated otherwise. The guide obviously wanted to reach Pelican Bay, because she walked at high speed. No jays showed (and very few other birds). When we reached a very nice canyon about half way a (reintroduced) [B]Bald Eagle[/B] flew across. These have been released to prevent Golden Eagle from resettling the island: these have all been relocated to protect the [I]Santa Cruz Island Fox[/I] (no sign of these yet either). Luckily, a bit further along the path I managed a two-second sighting of an [B]Island Scrub-Jay[/B] (which prompted the guide to acknowledge there was a pair there – something I had rather heard in advance). Before reaching Pelican Bay we had to return to the boat. While most people took advantage of this to enjoy a picknick and a rest, I headed straight back, taking advantage of the now quiet path. This paid off when I found another jay in some low scrub, showing really well (but utterly unphotographable). I caught up with the other jayseeker who had only had a bad view, and managed to show her a (distant) jay flying off into a canyon. The guide took us to a place on National Park land (follow a willow-lined creek up from the harbor towards a house) that often held jays, but not today. I guess this could be the best place to find the fox, because I found a lot of excrement on the path (but of course not the animal itself). I could not find [I]Allen’s Hummingbird[/I] in the Eucalyptus trees – I was very relieved that I had seen one yesterday! On the way back, the light on the (invariably Black-vented) shearwaters was better than in the morning, but neither dolphins nor (more unfortunately) [I]Xantus’s Murrelets[/I] (which I had not really counted on, but had been sighted recently) could be found. [/QUOTE]
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Southern California & East Texas Dec-Jan
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