Channel Island Fox and Biodiversity

Across the islands female Channel Island foxes are getting ready to have their pups. 

At first glance, the Channel Islands may appear barren, but a closer look reveals a rich diversity of plants and animals. Many of these species, like the island fox, are endemic and found no where else in the world. 
Join Friends of the Island Fox in a Trip to Santa Cruz Island

What can you see on Santa Cruz Island in just a few hours? 

Island Journal - Santa Cruz Island, March 29, 2012

giant coreopsis

Pat Meyer, Michael Lawshe and I went out to Prisoner's Harbor on Santa Cruz Island to investigate the restoration work on the wetland area. Winter rains came late this year, but the hillsides were in bloom with giant coreopsis (the island's strange species of bush daisy, a favorite food of island deer mice), blue dick, island morning glory, scarlet and bush monkey flower and lemonade berry, which provides important food for birds and island foxes. 

bramble-green hair streak; a new species for us

Western swallowtail, painted lady and several species of blue and hair streak butterflies were busy visiting the flowers. Island fence lizards and a side-blotched lizard were out enjoying the sunshine and snacking on the insects.

Insects were also on the menu for a black phoebe, Say's phoebe and barn swallows flying over the restored wetland. In the willows we even spotted a warbling vireo and the rare island scrub-jay.

In all we noted 25 plant species (many of them island endemics), 33 species of birds (including over 1000 migrating western grebes, an osprey and the Channel Island subspecies of Allen's hummingbird and Bewick's wren). Full Bird List.

Then just before we boarded the boat for home, a group of school children spotted an island fox!

Channel Island fox

This is the first island fox we have seen in part of the island and shows how the population recovery is once again making island foxes plentiful across all of Santa Cruz Island.

bottlenose dolphin with calf

When you add this to the common and bottlenose dolphins, and the migrating gray whales we saw during the crossing, it was a fantastic day! (More on the wetland restoration, later) 
- Keri Dearborn, FIF Education Director

You can spend a day on Santa Cruz Island too! 
FIF Trip to Santa Cruz Island, April 6, 2013.

Across the Channel Islands, female island foxes, like Tani and the one seen at Prisoner's Harbor, are separating themselves from their diverse island world and going into the shelter of their dens to prepare for giving birth. The recent spring rains may help support the island biodiversity that the Channel Island fox needs to survive. We can all hope that new pups will help to continue the recovery of the endangered populations.

Island Journal - Santa Cruz Island 
Visiting Island Foxes on Santa Cruz Island
Restoring Habitat on Santa Cruz Island, 2012 
Island Fox Releases on Santa Cruz Island, 2007

Experiencing San Nicolas Island

Island Journal - Summer 2008

Visiting California’s San Nicolas Island is a unique opportunity. This remote and wind-swept island is owned by the United States Navy. Friends of the Island Fox President, Pat Meyer, and I were fortunate to receive a special invitation for a short visit.

At first glance, the treeless slopes seem barren, but life here clings low to the ground to survive shifting wind. Delicate verbena flowers rise up from the sandy soil. Giant coreopsis, a species unique to the Channel Islands and the Southern California coast, stand like a forest of gray stick figures. This member of the daisy family grows several feet tall on a woody stem. In spring, the dried trunks come back to life and produce pompoms of lacy green topped with brilliant yellow flowers. (coreopsis photo)

Now, in July, the stems are dormant again, but the coreopsis forest is gradually spreading across 10% of the island. It is a clear sign that native plants are returning.

San Nicolas currently has the largest island fox population and the greatest number of foxes per square kilometer. We came hoping to see wild island foxes and the island didn’t disappoint us.

We were even lucky enough to see a litter of four pups born this spring. They were about 2 months old and bold little explorers. This is dad with one of the pups in the early morning fog.

Gazing across the dunes and scrub, it is hard to imagine there is enough cover to hide a fox, but the San Nicolas island foxes are tiny. The individuals we saw were slighter in weight and shorter, than the Catalina island foxes. It might seem impossible, but an island fox can emerge from the short grass along the roadside in a flash and be unseen until the instant it is in front of a car. Signs warning “Watch for Foxes” dot the few roads trying to alert unexpecting drivers. (road signs)

Most of the 12 island foxes we saw were wearing radio collars. Radio-collared foxes can be monitored by biologists and a new automated tracking system is being tested so that the movement of island foxes can be recorded in detail. The biologists are hoping this will provide greater understanding of island fox interactions and territories. Radio-collars also provide the first alert warning system for threats to island fox populations. (more on radio collars)

Dunes and grassland might seem inhospitable to a little fox, but it seems that sand fly larva may be providing an important food source for these foxes.

San Nicolas is a unique ecosystem and also home to endangered island night lizards and snowy plover. We saw one snowy plover and a number of other shore birds, including Western gull chicks. The beaches were busy with breeding California sea lions and resting immature elephant seals.

At night, sea lion barks hauntingly drifted up from the beaches. Fog streaked over the dry land. Here and there the wind would tear open a hole to expose the dark black sky with brilliant white stars.

San Nicolas Island is a wedge of sandstone cliffs carved by the waves of the Pacific Ocean. A unique landscape and home to the San Nicolas Island fox. - Keri Dearborn


Links to
Experiencing Santa Cruz Island
Experiencing Santa Rosa Island