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.

20 Nov 14 - Coastal California

On the way home from the Pitcairn & French Polynesia trip, I decided I might as well have a couple of days Birding in California rather than race home. I've visited California twice in the past. The first trip was in Nov 1995 when I had nearly three weeks to travel around the state which included a half day over the border into Oregon state. The second visit was a day stop over at the end of my second trip to Mexico in Mar 02. On these trips, I had managed to see a good selection of the late autumn & winter species. However, there were a few species I missed that I was keen to have another look for. One species was Grey Whale, but again I was visiting too early for their Southerly migration. Another option was to look for Island Scrub Jay. The isolated population of Scrub Jay that occurred on the Californian Channel Islands wasn't split on either visit & hence I didn't consider trying to fit a visit to the Channel Islands into my tight itineraries. The alternative options were to look for California Condor or to revisit Monterey Bay in the hope of some Seabirds or Cetaceans. After looking at options, I decided to limit the driving to the Channel Islands & then try & fit some general Birding in around that option. It was early afternoon before I cleared customs, picked up the hired car & was leaving from Los Angeles airport on my two day trip. The plan was to find a hotel in Ventura & stop at suitable spots along the coastal highway. The first interesting looking stop was at Hobson Beach Park. This is a small stretch of coastline next to the coastal highway with a couple of car parks next to a few houses. It didn't look that special, but it was a good place to break the journey for thirty minutes. The tide was out & there were a few species to photograph on the beach.

Grey Plover: Good to start with a familiar face on a foreign shoreline

Whimbrel: This is the hudsonicus subspecies also known as Hudsonian Whimbrel

Whimbrel

Marbled Godwit: This is the beringiae subspecies which winters on the Pacific coast of the US

Sanderling: Another familiar face from home

Sanderling

Ring-billed Gull: Adult

California Ground Squirrel

California Ground Squirrel

The next stop was Andree Clark Bird Refuge which is a small lake in an urban part of Santa Barbara. This was a small lake with a narrow scrubby edge.

The Andree Clark Bird Refuge

A view of the lake at the Andree Clark Bird Refuge

Shoveler

American Coot

Least Sandpiper

Heermann's Gull: A really cracking Gull

Anna's Hummingbird: This common local resident looks quite dull at this angle

Anna's Hummingbird: Turning its head & suddenly the reflected light makes the facial mask a lot brighter

Anna's Hummingbird: Another turn of the head & the forehead starts to glow

Say's Phoebe

California Towhee

California Towhee

House Finch: Male

House Finch: Female

There was still another couple of hours before it got dark, so I headed on for the Santa Barbara coastline to find a few viewpoints over the ocean.

Brown Pelican

American Herring Gull: Adult. This is the smithsonianus subspecies which is also known as American Herring Gull which Clements still regards as a subspecies of Herring Gull

Western Gull: Adult

Sunset: For the second night there was a cracking sunset: It was time to go looking for a motel & some food as I had an early start the following morning & I hadn't slept well on the plane