21 Nov 14 - Off To The Other Channel Islands

Today I was off to the Prisoners Harbour landing on Santa Cruz Island on a day trip. The boat left Ventura harbour at a civilised 09:00 & returned at 14:45. It was around a ninety minute crossing, plus an extra few minutes to drop the majority of the passengers at Scorpion Anchorage on the island. I was down at the quayside early to get a good breakfast before heading off, as it would be late afternoon before I was back on land. Getting a filling breakfast is rarely hard to find in the US. There were a few Birds in Ventura Harbour, before we set off.

Black-necked Grebe: This is the californicus subspecies

Double-crested Cormorant

Western Gull: Adult

Great-tailed Grackle

Finally, we were all aboard the boat & ready to head out. The first few minutes were nice & calm as we were within the harbour. But as soon as we headed out into the open water, it became pretty choppy. There were a number of the passengers who were not enjoying the motion, but after two weeks on the Braveheart, I was able to cope.

Brown Pelican on the outer harbour wall

Californian Sealion: Female chilling out

Californian Sealion: Female. One of the features is the flat head, gently sloping forehead & blunt nose

Looking back on the Ventura harbour & the surrounding coastline

The Channel Islands lie about twenty miles offshore & are part of the Channel Isles National Park

Map of the Channel Islands National Park

There are a lot of oil platforms off this part of the Californian coast

Cassin's Auklet: There were several hundred on the two crossings, but they were difficult to photograph given the bumpy crossing & they tended to fly well before the boat was close to them

Cassin's Auklet

Santa Cruz Island is a dry & arid island

Scorpion Anchorage on Santa Cruz Island: We dropped nearly all the passengers here. There were only three postgrad students & myself carrying onto Prisoners Harbour

Santa Cruz Island: The island is dry & looks to be sedimentary in origin

The Captain's map of Santa Cruz Island: Scorpion Anchorage is the top right red marker & Prisoners Harbour is shown by the red boat on the map

Coming into Prisoners Harbour on Santa Cruz Island: You need to stay on the boat till Prisoners Harbour as this is the best site for the Island Scrub Jay

Brandt's Cormorant: With one or two Double-crested Cormorants enjoying this well-used rock just offshore of Santa Cruz Island

Mallard: Male. One of several species of Ducks around Santa Cruz Island

Eider: Female. This is the v-nigrum subspecies

Surf Scoter

I had around three & a half hours to explore the valley & hillside paths behind the quay.

7 Nov 13 - A Harbour Tick

So far the posts have been beyond, rather than in Poole Harbour. Had planned to have a look around the local patch Studland from late morning as the weather was looking reasonable for passerines. Well that plan failed when I got a call from Paul Morton about mid morning to say a probably Surf Scoter swimming towards Brands Bay. Headed down & quickly met up with Paul & friends watching the bird. Not particularly close, but the head pattern looked good. Couldn't see anything on the wings, but no obvious signs of white. Paul hadn't seen it flap at this point & the white in the closed wing of a Velvet isn't always easy to see on a bird when the wings are closed. Had expected the bill to look a bit heavier, but it was a 1st Winter bird. It was steadily drifting to Redhorn Quay & I suggested relocating to Redhorn as photos should be better from there. Paul suggested they would wait where we were in case it flew (as if that was going to happen).

It's a few minutes walk to the end of Redhorn, during which I was out of view of the bay. Arriving close to the last patch of gorse, I saw a bird dive & when I left the only bird in that part of the bay was the Scoter. I had a small gap to get across & moved quickly to avoid flushing the bird while it was under the water. It popped up & it was a Great Crested Grebe. Damn - one of the many Great Crests had swum around the point. At that point, I saw the Scoter, it had only been yards off the shore, but was now taking off having caught my movement.

Surf Scoter: The lack of white in the wing has at least confirmed the id

Surf Scoter: Further out, but it has turned & the face pattern is visible

Surf Scoter: A distant shot on the water

 Surf Scoter: A distant shot on the water

I stayed for about 3 hours, but during that time it stayed in mid channel between the end of Redhorn Quay & Goathorn. This is only the second record for Poole Harbour, with the previous record being of 2 immature birds found by Nick Hopper on the afternoon of 30 Oct 2007. Frustratingly, I couldn't get away from work that day & they had departed by the following morning. So a good Harbour tick & even better by being on the local Studland patch. Nice one, Paul.