Our very wet winter continued into February. Along with rain came snow in the mountains. On a sunny day, after the rains, the air is so clear and the scenery and greenery is beautiful. I did a little 'chasing' this month and saw some lovely warblers: Palm, Cape May, and Black-throated Green. I went to the sketchier parts of the LA River with a group and was rewarded with Black Scoters. At the Cabrillo Fishing Pier, in addition to birds, I saw some interesting fish that some fishermen caught.

On February 29th (my uncle would have celebrated his 25th birthday, born on leap year 100 years ago), I went on my wetlands survey. The wetlands were wet. Wetter than usual! There were many pools of water. Poor milk snails were drowning in the water in the tire tracks in the mud. We tried to save them and a few may have survived through our efforts. The remaining ones may go as coyote or heron snacks. Some biologists are apparently doing a study of coyotes. They had staked statues of a cat and a dog to the ground and had motion detector trail cameras pointed at them. I don't know if they fooled the coyotes but they made me do a double take. When I realize what it was, I patted the cat and said "poor kitty". I wonder what the biologists will think when they retrieve the camera.  The rains should yield a bumper crop of mustard. I was impressed by the amount of moss growing on the trail. There were some of our usual areas too wet to walk through. 

I have enjoyed our wet lands, but hope for some drier days so I can get out to see them.

Happy nature watching.
 

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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.

Local Stuff:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/new_feb_2024

Wetlands Bird Survey:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/hellman_feb_2024