Subject: Island Scrub Jay
Date: Apr 16 23:33:10 2002
From: Dan Logen - d.logen at verizon.net


My son and I visited Santa Cruz Island last week, camping two nights at the
east end. We had many sightings and encounters with the endemic Island
Scrub Jay, which the NPS maintenance man at Scorpion Harbor described as the
"rarest bird in the US". (I'm not sure that's true). It seems like it
would be easy to see the Jay on just a day trip to Scorpion Harbor,
although camping a night or two at the campground would give a more
satisfying experience.

The area was quite birdy, with many familiar birds, some with unfamiliar
songs--perhaps candidates for splits? Hutton's Vireos were almost a noisy
nuisance in the campground, as were the black phoebes. Rufous-crowned
sparrows seemed to sing for just a half hour or so in the early morning. I
don't know if that is typical. Western Meadowlarks were all over the
island, many with weird songs.

Write me if you have any specific questions.

Dan Logen
Stanwood
d.logen at verizon.net