Road Trip LA!

A mis amigos emplumados finos,

Among the phrases that I never want to hear, "We're out of wine!" and "Let's drive to LA!" are two of the worst. While the wine problem can be fixed with a quick trip to the store, the road trip to LA is sure to be hours of miserable traffic, horrendous drivers, smog, sprawl, urban decay, concrete rivers...did I mention that I'm not a fan of LA?

And yet, when you are in the middle of a Big Year and running out of birds to find, you've got to take them where you can, and LA has a few species that we needed. So, late last week, we threw our gear in the car, stocked up with Diet Coke (his) and Vitamin Water (hers), and dove into the river of cars headed south.

Our first day ended in Ventura, CA, about 70 miles west of LA, the mainland headquarters of Channel Islands National Park. The Channel Islands are a chain of eight islands, located 10-30 miles offshore. Yay, another boat!

The Islands have been separated from the mainland for ages, long enough for the flora and fauna to diverge from their mainland counterparts to form new species. So, our target was the Island Scrub-Jay, a relative of our Western Scrub-Jay that lives only in the Channel Islands.

Day Two began with a boat departure from Ventura Harbor at the civilized hour of 9AM. Despite flat seas and calm winds, I began singing the Gilligan's Island song, which it turns out that I do every time I board a boat. Is this just a fun little game, or a secret fear?

After a 90-minute cruise severely lacking in storms and shipwrecks, we arrived at our desert isle and were greeted by this:

Somehow, this feels ominous. I believe it was carved by one of the prisoners in his cell with a dinner spoon, just before he was made to walk the plank to Davy Jones' Locker.

With a tip from the on-board naturalist, we immediately began scouring for our Jay. The bird looks and sounds almost identical to our Western Scrub-Jay, but The Scientists tell us that they are actually distinct species whose ranges don't overlap. So, all we needed to do was a find a Jay, any Jay, and we were good.

Fortunately, after only 30 minutes of searching, we found this fellow building his acorn stash for the harsh SoCal "winter":

Off to plant another oak tree, as if he is like the Jays on our yard, he is very likely to forget where he hid the acorn. 

So, Mission Accomplished! But we still had four hours to kill until the return.

Fortunately, just after lunch, this little guy showed up:

Channel Islands Fox! #socute

The reason for his visit, just after noon? He's learned that people + picnic tables = food

Checking to see if these folks left him a token of their appreciation for his cuteness.

"Please, sir, may I have another?"

The trip home was mostly uneventful, except for when the boat found a huge pod of dolphins attacking what was probably a humongous school of anchovy, while birds dive-bombed from above and sea lions rocketed through the middle of the fracas.

Bad day to be an anchovy.

Next up? They actually drive into LA! Will they survive!?! Or will they succumb to "LA Fever" and the hordes of Zombies that undoubtedly roam the smouldering remains of the city!??! Tune in next time to find out!

Here's to another punch in my Frequent Sailor card,
Me