September was a great month. It started with a Bordered Mantis that was lurking in the bush outside my front window. It was rather shy and backed away from me when I tried to take its picture. It was there for quite a few days. At one point I saw that it caught a Gulf Fritillary. By the time I got my camera, it had already made quite a meal of it. I then saw it mating. They posed for a long time, but I kept a distance so as not to disturb them. Rumors of females eating the males after mating are exaggerated, and this one got away unscathed. A few days later she took another suitor. I lost track of her but hope she has a large family that I will see next year. I also saw two mantids (mantid and mantis are interchangeable terms) at Deforest Park. You will notice a lot of mantid photos. Early September was good for dragonflies and I saw many more than I photographed. 

September is a great time for warblers and other migrating birds. I enjoyed several trips to local parks to look for migrants, vagrants (birds), and always fun resident birds. Deforest Park and the LA River at Willow Street required multiple visits. I noticed that the favorite snack of Cassin's King Birds seemed to be Scoliid wasps. They would catch them and then thrash them about before eating them. I saw several birds in several locations eating this same species of wasp.

I often like to wander a park by myself where I can go at my own pace and linger when I want to. However, I also enjoy the company of others who speak the same bird or bug language and can share my excitement of a special find.

The highlight of my butterfly survey was a snake and a weevil. Actually, there were two California Striped Racers! They looked like branches of a bush and didn't move, so they were well hidden. The flower weevil was in a Jimson Weed. The day was gray, overcast, and very dry. When the sun finally came out, we saw lots of Woodland Skippers.

There were several different raptors on my bird survey at Los Cerritos wetlands. However, for me the highlight was some good looks at Marsh Wrens. I have only seen one there in the past.

I went on a pelagic birding trip out of Dana Point. I enjoy being out on the water, but wish I didn't have to get up so early. We had birds near the shore, but as we crossed the channel towards Catalina, it was decidedly unbirdy. A morning pod of dolphin amused us.

I went on a trip to Mammoth Lakes, Mono Lake, and Bodie with two friends. It was supposed to be a mini art retreat. One friend did do a little journal sketching. The other took photos and did watercolors from them at home. I had good intentions and I didn't even bring my good lenses, but woodpeckers and Mountain Bluebirds got the best of me and I didn't do any art (yet?). I have broken up my photos into different sets by location. Bodie is the ghost town that was full of Mountain Bluebirds. Mono Lake has fabulous Tufas, California Gulls, and Alkalai flies. We didn't spend much time in Mammoth Lakes except at the condo at night. I went on early morning walks and looked for mountain birds. On the way up and back we stopped at Fossil Falls and the Alabama Hills. Not much wildlife in either place, but great geological points of interest.

Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KimMooreNaturalist/

Be sure your browser allows Flash in order to see the names in the slideshow.

Watch the slideshows or click on the links to look through at your own pace.

Enjoy the show! I always appreciate corrections to ID's.

Local stuff:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/new_sep_2018 
 

Irvine Ranch butterfly survey:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/irc_sep_2018

Los Cerritos Wetlands Bird Survey: https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/hellman_sep_2018

Pelagic Birding Trip out of Dana Point:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/pelagic_trip_sep_2018

Bodie:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/bodie_sep_2018

Mono Lake:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/mono_sep_2018

Mammoth Lakes:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/mammoth_lakes_sep_2018

Fossil Falls and Alabama Hills:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/inyo_sep-2018