Outrageous politics, civil unrest, and pandemic are the norm. I have nothing more to say on that front this month. However, now we have added horrific fires and an earthquake. The earthquake was a jolt in the night, but thankfully no real damage beyond nerves. The fires across the west coast have devastated many lives and homes for people and animals. Recovery will take beyond my lifetime. We had a week of smoky conditions even though we are 50 miles from the closest fire. My eyes and throat were scratchy or burning. I left the house for only brief periods of time. But now the air has cleared, and life continues. So much happens so fast that we almost forget the beginning of the month and live day to day.

I continued contributing to the Natural History Museum's Widow Wars project. The goal is to photograph Brown Widow spiders with their prey to study the impact of this species on other native species. So far, I personally have found that they dine on a variety of insects and spiders, with notably Tropical House Crickets, Black Webspinners, and other spiders high on the list. With cool temperatures and quiet I have enjoyed getting to know my yard at night. I didn't post all my photos here, just a few interesting characters. 

I had an interesting find at the Dominguez Gap Wetlands. I photographed a large fish. About a month ago, I met a man who was rather excited that he had seen a large creature. I looked for it that day but could not find anything. My friend and I wrote it off as the Loch Ness Monster. I finally saw it, got some good photos, and was able to identify it. It is an Alligator Gar. These are invasive non-native fish, and was probably released from a personal aquarium. They have been reported to grow up to 10 feet and weigh 350 lbs. Looking through observations on iNaturalist, I think it has been seen since April, but the photos were not clear. I reported it to the state's invasive species hotline, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists are now trying to capture it.  The Natural History museum is working with them and would like to add it to their Ichthyology collection.

It was a great month for birding, particularly in the latter half of the month. Fall migration has turned up some amazing birds. I added several new to my life list. Notable in the birding world, drawing literally over 100 birders, some driving hundreds of miles to see them, were: a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, which normally ranges from Mexico to South America, and a White Wagtail, which breeds in Eurasia and Western Alaska and then migrates south to Africa. This one apparently migrated down the wrong coast. Not quite as 'rare', but still notable for me were a Northern Waterthrush, a few lost East Coast Warblers, interesting sparrows, and a beautiful red male Summer Tanager. Fortunately for me they were all close by. Our monthly bird survey of the Los Cerritos wetlands started off quite foggy. It was uneventful and pleasant.

Hooray for cooler weather.

Wishing you all safe and happy adventures. Voting starts. Make your voice heard.

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Watch the slideshows or click on the links to look through at your own pace. Links open in a new tab.

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

Local Stuff:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/new_sep_2020

Wetlands Survey:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/hellman_sep_2020