Hi all
Island Packers has spots left on an Island Scrub-Jay pelagic trip on the Vanguard out of the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard on Saturday March 4. The trip leaves at 8:00 am and returns at 5:00 pm. We will run from Oxnard to Santa Cruz Island where we will disembark at Prisoners Harbor and spend approximately an hour looking for the endemic Island Scrub-Jay. On the way to the island and back, we will be looking for pelagic birds and other marine wildlife. Late winter trips can be good for alcids, shearwaters, Red Phalaropes, and a variety of other species. I have been out of San Diego and Orange County in recent weeks and there are numbers of alcids around. We normally see Scripps's Murrelets, Cassin's Auklets, Rhinoceros Auklets, and Common Murres on this trip. A trip out of San Diego a few weeks ago had a Tufted Puffin and a recent passage to the islands from Ventura had a pair of Marbled Murrelets so you never know what will turn up. We are also planning to cruise along Anacapa Island where we may get lucky and find a booby roosting among the cormorants and pelicans.

The trip costs $125 and leaves from the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard (not the Ventura Harbor in Ventura). You can register at: https://islandpackers.com/trips/whales-and-wildlife-cruises/birding-excursions/
Hope to see you there
Dave Pereksta Ventura