999: Santa Cruz Island endemic

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Island Scrub Jay
     During my previous visit to SoCal, I had booked a ferry to see Island Scrub Jay that is endemic to Santa Cruz Island of Channel Islands National Park. More details are at https://operation1kbirds.blogspot.com/2018/04/socal-trip-gets-me-to-956.html. The ferry was cancelled the day before the trip due to a fire which I believe was not bad enough to cause a cancellation! I once again booked a ferry in advance for my next trip, which was last week. I expected to see it easily and also had hopes of one or two seabirds along the route. 

     We had a rough ride on the sea and I did not have the mood to look for birds. I was happy to reach land, though feeling miserable about the return journey. While waiting for an orientation talk before we headed off into the trails, a birder and I heard the Jay and we could see something of the right silhouette fly. We both walked around near the drop off point and parted ways a little. I saw a bird hopping on the ground and come out in the open, which was the Island Scrub Jay for bird 999. I quickly called the other birder who was onto one higher up on a tree. We got good views of the bird which stayed in the open. My wife and I then walked a trail to see other birds, some of which are endemic subspecies of mainland birds. Here is the checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S57927505.

     I also wanted to see the endemic Island Fox, and we got to see it really well just before we boarded the ferry back. The ferry back was smooth and I joined the birder who had binocs for extra eyes for seabirds. We got poor distant looks of what should be a Pigeon Guillemot, but I couldn't count it.

Island Fox
     For people wanting to see the Scrub Jay, I believe Prisoner’s Harbor has better chances than Scorpion Anchorage. I ended up seeing eight on my visit to Prisoner's Harbor. Island Packers are the only ones doing trips to the islands of Channel Island NP. Ferries leave Ventura Harbor. I took the 9 am ferry to Santa Cruz Islands to reach Scorpion Anchorage first at around 10:30 am where majority of the passengers left the ferry. Time went in unloading their bags and kayaks. We reached Prisoner's Harbor  around 11:15 am, which was a 20 minute ride. The return ferry was at 3 pm. We stopped at Scorpion's Anchorage to load passengers and their belongings, and then reached Ventura Harbor at 5 pm. Surprisingly there was mobile coverage at the National Park and along the route!

     Later in the day, I tried for Condor at Sespe Condor Sanctuary, but turned back due to poor roads. I am not sure what my 1000th bird is going to be. It could be something rare that might show up around ATX that I can chase. It could be the Yellow-Green Vireo many hours of drive away. Or I could happen to see a new species when I travel somewhere.

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