"Both photography and art open my eyes to the infinite beauty of nature in her every detail."
~ Kim Moore
Sights of October 2024 - Rear Window
October 31, 2024
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My foot is finally healing after my tripping accident at the end of last month. The first two weeks of the month were marked by very limited mobility, but at the end of the month I could walk with a boot. This of course limited my adventures greatly. Yet I was able to sit at my back door with my camera watching the bird and squirrel activity. It wa...
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Sights of September 2024 - Fall
October 01, 2024
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The return of fall can be a great time for nature watching, particularly as political discourse is heating up, hurricanes are raging, and there is trouble around the world. I can't seem to solve the world's problems, so a little escapism is what I am left with.
Fall brings better weather and returning birds. Butterflies and spiders are abundant. T...
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Sights of August 2024 - Michael Bublé, a Bordered Mantis, and a Little Blue Heron
September 01, 2024
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What do Michael Bublé, a Bordered Mantis, and a Little Blue Heron have in common? Sway. I love that song.
This month I had a Bordered Mantis in my yard and watched it for a long time. It hung upside down in the shade under the flowers, not moving, except for an occasional swaying motion.
" Like a flower bending in the breeze
Bend with me, sway w...
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Sights of July 2024 - COVID round 2 (a forced staycation)
July 31, 2024
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Well here we go again. At the beginning of the month, I caught COVID for the second time, followed by a bout of vertigo. Fortunately, I am well vaccinated, symptoms were mild, and I am recovered. However, I am extra cautious now that my mother is living with me, which meant I insisted on a lengthy isolation period until tests conclusively said nega...
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Sights of June 2024 - Backyarding
June 30, 2024
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To quote biologist /geologist Louis Agassiz: "I spent the summer traveling; I got halfway across my back yard."
June is typically slow for birding, unless you go up to the mountains, which I did not. Instead I focused primarily on my own yard. I stocked my feeders with sugar-water for the hummers, and jelly for the Hooded Orioles, which was also...
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Sights of May 2024 - The Merry Month of May
June 01, 2024
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The start of May is marked by the late migrant birds. I saw Western Tanagers, Swainson's Thrushes, and a few Flycatchers. In mid-May we start to see the fledglings of our resident birds such as young California Towhees, Orange-crowned Warblers, Swinhoe's White-eyes (not native but now resident), Black Phoebes, House Finches, and a Killdeer pretendi...
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Sights of April 2024 - In a Frenzy
April 30, 2024
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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...
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Sights of March 2024 - No bad weather, No bad birds, No bad birders
March 31, 2024
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There is an expression that "There is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothing". I always counter that with, "There may not be bad weather, but there is such a thing as good weather". Well, while this month I saw good birds such as White-winged Scoter, Hepatic Tanager, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Clay-colored Sparrow, there are no bad...
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Sights of February 2024 - Wetlands
March 01, 2024
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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 grou...
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Sights of January 2024 - Proof
February 01, 2024
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I hope all of you have been waterproof this month. As is typical in Southern California winter, we get our rain, but summer not so much. The cold wet winter should bring us glorious spring wildflowers, if we don't flood or mudslide away. Although the rain, and my husband's second bout of COVID, kept me in a bit, I used the good weather to my best a...
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Sights of December 2023 - Another year around the sun
December 31, 2023
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While most of the month was spent packing and moving my mother from New York City to live with us in California, we arrived back home in time for the Audubon Christmas Bird Counts (CBC). As usual, I participated in two. First was the El Dorado Audubon CBC. I covered Signal Hill. It was a little slow, but I found what I believe to be an Orchard Orio...
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Sights of November 2023 - Near and Far
December 01, 2023
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I spent most of the month of November making arrangements to move my mother from New York to live with us in California. Next month I will go to New York to help her pack. She will miss New York, but the time is near that she should no longer live so far away and alone. Despite any regrets she has about leaving, I think she will enjoy the Californi...
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Sights of October 2023 - Always Something New
October 31, 2023
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There is always something new to find or learn. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the number of videos about nature that I want to watch on YouTube, much less all the books I have yet to read that sit on my desk. That is why I like to give talks from time to time, or take up a new project. At least it keeps me focused on my research. I gave a talk on...
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Sights of September 2023 - Change of Seasons
October 01, 2023
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September is a month of change. It is both Summer and Fall. Butterflies and Dragonflies are abundant, and at the end of the month warbler migration is full on. We can't wait for the sparrows to come back any minute now. The weather can be hot during the day, but it is very pleasantly cool at night. We even had a sprinkle or two of rain this month,...
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Camp de Benneville - Art Camp 4 Grown Ups
September 14, 2023
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This month I attended an art camp held in the San Gabriel Mountains. I never went to sleep-away camp as a child, but now can relate better to the many movies based on the subject. Although the focus of the camp activities was on art workshops, there were other activities such as group hikes, yoga, and archery. We slept in bunkbeds (lower for us old...
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All images © Kim Moore (contact for use)