"Both photography and art open my eyes to the infinite beauty of nature in her every detail."
~ Kim Moore
Sights of December 2024 - The End of a Year
December 31, 2024
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As our calendar year comes to a close, it is always a time to look back and reflect upon the year. Sometimes it is hard to remember all that happened. This was the first year of my mother living with me, and three months of foot recovery. It is easy to think of these events that have taken a large part of my year on a different trajectory. However,...
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Bird Migration Timing Through Coastal Southern California
December 30, 2024
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Roughly 40% of birds migrate. Not all species migrate the same distance, direction, nor at the same time. Migration is far more complex than I am stating here, but some birds migrate long distances, some short distances, some to different latitudes, and some to different altitudes. In some cases, males, females, and young migrate at different times...
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Seasonal Events of Coastal Southern California
December 28, 2024
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Seasons and the Calendar (download pdf)
The seasons are determined by the Earth’s orbit around the sun. Because the Earth’s axis is tilted at 23 ½ degrees relative to the plane of the orbit, daylight and nighttime lengths vary with the seasons. In the northern hemisphere, on the winter solstice, the north pole is in darkness the full 24 hours. T...
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Zane Grey at Avalon for an Art Retreat
December 07, 2024
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I needed a vacation. Although I had my share of staycations enjoying my backyard, it had been a full year since I had a proper getaway. After being at home with a broken foot and ankle, I needed a change of scene. Although my mobility was somewhat limited, I found the perfect getaway. My friend and I decided to make our own 3-day art retreat on Cat...
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Sights of November 2024 - Patience, Young Grasshopper
December 01, 2024
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Patience is a virtue, and I may not always be virtuous. Probably like many, I have great patience with some things and am very impatient with others. I have been impatient with speed of recovery (or lack there of) of my bones to mend in my foot, but I am very grateful for my backyard. I suppose the pace is normal, but I am impatient.
Some people t...
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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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All images © Kim Moore (contact for use)