Northern Illinois Birder: Santa Cruz Island - Channel Islands National Park

A view of the beach and coastline of Santa Cruz Island and Anacapa Island on the horizon, Channel Islands Nat. Park, CA; 6/18/2011.

After an hour boat ride, Val and I spent the majority of the day exploring Santa Cruz Island (Above), one of four islands that make up the Channel Islands National Park off the coast of California. We had limited time and funds to spend at this National Park, so I decided that Santa Cruz would be the island we travel to for three reasons: 1.) It was the largest (96 square miles) so it had ample opportunity for hiking. 2.) It was relatively close to mainland California (60 minute ferry ride), so it afforded us more time on the island and less on the boat. 3.) It boasted the most land birds to observe, including the Island Scrub Jay which is endemic to Santa Cruz. How cool would it be to add a bird to my Life List which is only found in one small location in the world.

Sea Lions resting on a buoy, Ventura, CA; 6/18/2011.

We were hardly 10 minutes into our boat trip to Santa Cruz, just outside the Ventura Marina, we already encountered our first wildlife, Sea Lions (Above). Also during our sea voyage we saw a Blue Whale (sorry my photos of this remarkable creature were not very remarkable so not post worthy), and a large pod of dolphins (Below).

Dolphins galore playing in the wake of our boat to Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands Nat. Park, CA; 6/18/2011.

Once we arrived on Santa Cruz, I immediately searched out a park ranger to inquire about the best location to find an Island Scrub Jay - "Scorpion Canyon," he assured me. We had about seven hours on the island before we had to catch our return boat back to the mainland, so we decided that for sure we wanted to hike two trails - Val wanted to go high up on the bluffs to catch the panoramic views (Below), and I wanted to hit Scorpion Canyon Loop Trail to (what else?) search for the Island Scrub Jay. We figured both of these hikes would use up the majority of our seven hour visit.

Val overlooking the vast blue Pacific and rocky cliffs from the bluffs high on Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands Nat. Park, CA; 6/18/2011.

After completing both hikes and I didn't see any I.S. Jays, we had a bit more than an hour before our departure, so I decided to take a half hour hike back into Scorpion Canyon in hopes of spotting what turned out to be a very elusive bird for me. After a half hour, I had to turn around and head back - no Island Scrub Jays to be seen (by me). As veteran birders would say, I "dipped' on locating an Island Scrub Jay. I was very disappointed as this would probably have been my only chance to score this bird. I don't know if I'll ever get to Santa Cruz Island ever again. But - I did identify 24 bird species and 6 of them were additions to my Life List (#'s 307 - 312).
Santa Cruz Island Birds identified: Brown Pelicans, Western Gulls, Double-crested Cormorants, Western Meadowlarks, Allen's Hummingbird, Logger-headed Shrike (FOY), Barn Swallows, Cliff Swallows, Bewick's Wren, Song Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, Black Phoebe, House Finches (Yellow variety), Pigeon Guillemots (FOY), Spotted Towhee, Forster's Tern, and my five new Lifers: Sooty Shearwaters, Pink-footed Shearwater, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Horned Lark, Pelagic Cormorants, and Brandt's Cormorants.

(Below) are pics of some of the birds I identified during my hikes: