Tweets:

Sherry Hagen indicated that she has reservations to visit Scorpion Ranch for
a 1/2 day stay, and inquired about how easy it would be to see the jay. I
thought there might be general interest, so am posting my answer to the list
also.
Dan Logen
Stanwood




Hi Sherry
Most of the time there was a Jay or two at the ranch buildings or nearby
trees close to the beach. If your major goal is to see the Jay, I would
spend an hour or so walking around the buildings and trees, up to the lower
campground. If no Jay there, then walk 1-2 miles past the upper campground,
into the upper portion of Scorpion Creek. Don't take the steep major trail
to the left up out of the creek, instead walk along the creek bed up to the
boulders and trees. We saw them there also. We saw them numerous times
without even trying--but we also had no pressure on us timewise, as we were
there 3 days.

The Jays were often quiet, skulking about looking for little nestlings to
eat, but they are so large they were still easy to see. We spent a
memorable hour watching a Bewick's Wren couple feeding their young. The
nest was concealed in a box on a piece of equipment. The entrance to the
nest was too small to allow entry by the Jays, but we still saw the Jays
trying to find out how to get those baby wrens! They were VERY quiet as
they crawled around in the equipment. They were oblivious of us, sitting on
a picnic table, and at times came within 8 or 10 feet of us. We noticed
them searching for the babies two days in a row. You'd think they would
learn that they were inaccessible on the first try! (This nest was in the
corral like area where the nice graded road heads up to the housing area,
where the ranger and caretaker live.)

After you see the Jay, the shortest hike is to Cavern Point. There are nice
views from the clifftops. Pelicans flying by, as well as Western Gulls. We
saw only the occasional Pinneped in the water. Be careful on the cliffs, as
a day hiker fell off while we were there and got a medivac helicopter ride
back to the mainland. Another short hike, in a different direction is up to
the cypress grove, visible from the sea up on the hillside as you approach
Scorpion Ranch. No seacliffs on this hike. A slightly longer hike, but
still doable for a day tripper is to Potato Harbor, with nice clifftop views
of beaches below. That's about it for hikes in the time allowed for day
trippers.

I was interested in wildflowers, and was a little disappointed at the
relative paucity of blooms. I had thought April 10 would be great timing.
The Giant Coreopsis was all finished, although they are still impressive
bloomless (at Cavern Point, on the cliffs.) We did see a nice poppy colony
on the 8 mile roundtrip hike to Smugglers Cove. Also the succulent daisies
on the cliffs at Cavern Point were pretty. I think these are both possibly
island endemics, but need to do more research. Some succulent Dudleya sp
were starting to bloom on the cut the road makes up to the Cypress Grove and
on the cliffs at Cavern Point. I did buy the book on Flora of Santa Cruz
Isand (at park headquarters in Ventura), so should be able to identify the
photos I took.

Good luck!

Dan