Art: I tried a little printmaking this month. I like the process and you may see more to come. I find it more 'artistic' than my colored pencil drawings and nature journals. It will be interesting to see where it goes.

Insects and Spiders: I went to the nature center to help identify insects found under a a large piece of black plastic that was used to kill off the weeds in an area for restoration. Camel crickets and Jerusalem crickets were the highlight. In my own yard, I found mites, monarch caterpillars, and milkweed bugs. My butterfly count was very dry and as expected very few butterflies were seen.  It is still data, and as always, it was a lovely day and great to meet up with the other people. So few photos so I've just added them to my local stuff rather than a separate slideshow.

Birds: January 1st started with a great day. I coordinated what might now be an annual event. Nine friends joined me early in the morning for what is now called the LB100. We visited 11 parks looking for 100 species of birds within the City of Long Beach. Starting at 8am and finishing at 5pm, we came up with 96. I didn't take a lot of photos, but went back to several of the spots over the next few weeks for photos and to find the 'missing' birds to reach (and exceed) 100. I caught some rarities including a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Palm Warbler, and Pacific Golden Plover. It took three trips to the beach to find the Pacific Golden Plover. The weather was beautiful. We have had a very mild winter. We could certainly use some rain, but it is so nice to get outside and enjoy the beach. I have lots of shorebird photos this month. My bird survey at Los Cerritos Wetlands had more shorebirds coming in. It is always nice to see them in the little patches of tidal water.

I went to Pasadena to see the Parrots prep for roosting for the night. WOW! I knew there were parrots there, but had know idea on the the number. Noisy little dickens. Photography was a challenge as they come in just before dark and it gets quite dark very quickly.

A last minute cancellation got me on a pelagic birding trip with Sea and Sage Audubon. (Might I say, Audubon has many chapters, and they all offer great field trips, even for non-members). The weather was perfect and the seas were calm. We saw a Brown Booby and lots of gulls and pelicans. In addition to birds we saw whales and dolphin. Southern California in January doesn't get better than this!

Watch the slideshows or click on the links to look through at your own pace.

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

Local stuff:    http://kimssight.zenfolio.com/new_jan_2018 
 

Bird Survey Los Cerritos Wetlands:    http://kimssight.zenfolio.com/hellman_jan_2018

Parrot Roost:    http://kimssight.zenfolio.com/parrot_chase_jan_2018

Pelagic Birding out of Dana Point:    http://kimssight.zenfolio.com/pelagic_trip_jan_2018