Vagabond Tales- Walking in the Bottom of A Bird Cage

August 22, 2023 Channel Islands National Park

We have watched many National Geographic specials that showed footage in areas where birds are the main inhabitants and thought…wouldn’t that be cool? We love birds! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine the all pervasive smell that hangs in the air on a hot day like this! After hiking for about an hour, I said to Harry, “I feel like we are walking in the bottom of someone’s dirty birdcage.”

We are looking a bit motley for our all day island tour but we were told to wear layers and rain gear for the ocean spray. We knew we were hiking so we also had that gear with us, as well. We didn’t need either of our jackets but our thick souled hiking boots came in handy!
Whoa to those who wore only sandals!
We boarded the Vanguard at 9:30 am. 1 hour over to the island of Anacapa, where they dropped us off to be picked up at 3:30. The island had one naturalist who had been there for a month, mostly by herself and one of our guides came onto land with us, some restrooms, an unmanned visitor center, ten million seagulls and a few Peregrine Falcons and zero trees.
Our captain was awesome at maneuvering in Landing Cove. Before you, you can see the 250 steps to get you onto the island.
Not far from the top of the stairs this was our view and the sounds.

These are the few restored buildings that make up what was at one time a small community. You can also hear the fog horn coming from the lighthouse. It went off about every two minutes!

If you look closely…you may see a seagull or two.
Harry said it would be a miracle if we didn’t get bird poo on our heads. Guess we had a miracle. We came out unscathed.
Cathedral Cove…note the red kelp beds.
This area is one of the top 10 cold water diving areas of the world.
We are lunch here, at Inspiration Point, looking out over a few of the other Channel Islands. We were all by ourselves…and the birds.
The Arch rock…below is a view from the other side.

There is no fresh water on this island. It must all be shipped in and lifted with a crane to the top. Early on, they came up with a super idea to catch the fresh water and store it in a water tank for use. They concreted a broad expanse, gave it a slanted pitch so it could be directed to the run off receptacle. Pictured below…can you figure out what they didn’t count on?

I bet you guessed it. The birds loved it so much, it became a favorite place to roost…compromising the quality of the drinking water. They don’t even bother with it now.

The lighthouse was loud and lovely!

I plugged my ears as we hiked closer to it!
Couldn’t not thank those guys for not pooping on our heads today!

We really did enjoy this beautiful day that God made! So much to be thankful for! We did get a disappointing call this afternoon. The National Parks have closed Death Valley. That leaves us with a couple days without a place to land. Our research department is working on this dilemma as I type. Stay tuned to see where the Vagabonds end up tomorrow night.

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Vagabond Tales

6 thoughts on “Vagabond Tales- Walking in the Bottom of A Bird Cage”

  2. It would take a special person to live on a rock by herself with only a bunch of birds, pooping everywhere. As much as I don’t mind being alone, I don’t think I could do it.

    The views are beautiful, though.

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