April starts to get interesting. First there is anticipation, and then it is suddenly frenzy time.

April 15 is tax day and last minute filing. The PV/Audubon Spring Butterfly Count is happening, and I am sending out emails and tabulating results. LA's Birdiest County Challenge and The iNaturalist City Nature Challenge happen on the same weekend at the end of the month, and I am involved in a couple of the events. For the nature challenge, I have to take a lot of photos, which makes for a lot more work, tagging, sorting, processing, and posting them. The weeds in my garden are going wild, and I am in a frenzy trying to keep up. And migration hits its peak at the end of the month, and I have to go out as much as possible so as not to miss it. 

I am not the only one who is frenzied. Shorebirds were having a feeding frenzy on grunion eggs. Some lizards were having a feeding frenzy chowing down on subterranean termites as they emerged from a small hole in the ground. Ants have been swarming with several swarms overtaking my kitchen. I wish I had an anteater.

Besides the feeding frenzies, some of the cool things I saw:

• Baby owls: Several sets of baby Great Horned Owls. Some were in the nest and others were already branching, but not quite ready to leave mom and dad.
• Hawks: Red-tailed Hawks (which have a variety of color morphs) being mobbed by crows and ravens, and a pair of Swainson's Hawks, less common in the area.
• Mammals: Gophers digging their burrows, a Coyote casually walking during the day, a fluffy Skunk digging for grubs at dusk, a Racoon sleeping in a tree, and a Desert Cottontail aka bunny.
• 'Rarities': Thick-billed Kingbird, White Wagtail, Blackburnian Warbler, and Crotch's Bumble Bee

They say watching nature is calming. Well maybe next month will be less frenzied.

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_apr_2024

Feeding Frenzy at the shore:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/feeding_frenzy_apr-2024

Rancho Los Cerritos City Nature Challenge:  
https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/rancho_los_cerritos_nature_challenge_apr_2024