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Crested Caracara is a very rare bird in CA, but rumors of Caracara sightings on Catalina Island began in mid April of 2014. When I visited the island the summer of that year, one of my goals was to find this bird. My expectations were low, of course: there was believed to be just a single Caracara on the entire 75 square mile island. During an excursion to the island's interior, however, I found it! From several hundred feet away, perched at the top of a pine tree near Middle Ranch, there it was. It did not give me any time to take a decent photo before it flew away, but it still represents one of my favorite rare finds.