Did anyone notice Painted lady Butterflies? I don't think anyone locally could have missed them, even if only on the windshield driving down the freeway. The conditions have been perfect for the butterfly population to explode and the populations are pushing northward to find new territory. We also have had great conditions for superblooms of wildflowers. However, this month started off cool and rainy. We even had hail at our house. A squirrel took protection  under the eaves of my garage from the pelting ice. The wonderful signs of spring have begun and picked up more toward the latter part of the month, including birds picking up nesting material, pairing up, beginning courtship displays, singing, and some of the migrants coming through. I videoed a House Wren singing. It posed so close that I could get a decent shot. My shot of the Swainson's Hawk is not that great, but I am always happy when I can see them on migration.  I expect April to be ever so spectacular.

With all the rain, we missed a third month of my butterfly count. However, we did try black-lighting at the Augustine Staging area with Irvine Ranch Conservancy early in March. But alas, it was 48 degrees and dropping, so we had very few insects.

On the other hand, it was a glorious day at Los Cerritos Wetlands for my bird survey toward the end of the month. There were sparrows, shorebirds, the Hooded Orioles were back, a Merlin, and beautiful sky and yellow flowers.

At the end of the month, my husband and I drove out to Tucson to visit my son. A fabulous opportunity to visit, relax, and explore. On the way out, we made a brief stop at the south end of Joshua Tree National Park at Cottonwood Springs to admire the wildflowers. It was magnificently colorful. There were lots of White-lined Sphinx moth caterpillars enjoying the bountiful bouquet. They will probably make fast work of the flowers.

Then it was on to Tucson and southern Arizona. We spent one night in Madera Canyon and stayed at Santa Rita Lodge, a well known birding hotspot. Wow! Just wow. So many birds at the feeders including special birds: Mexican Jay, Arizona Woodpecker, Bridled Chickadee, Hepatic Tanager, Rivoli's Hummingbird, and Broad-billed Hummingbird. The Wild Turkeys were most amusing, marching through the area and trying to get to the feeders. At night we saw an Elf Owl.  We don't get to see those birds in Long Beach. A big surprise was a Coati wandering on a trail near by. It walked under a bridge. Of course I was on the wrong side and my husband got a fabulous view as he made sweet kitty talk to it and it stared at him at close range. Coati's are related to Racoons. When the Coati walked by, the Mexican Jays put up quite a fuss. I suspect that Coati's are very fond of bird eggs.

Back in Tucson, I went out in the mornings around the block, and one day we went to Sweetwater Preserve. I saw a Curved Billed Thrasher and a Pyrrhuloxia that made a call like a small laser. The rest of the time we ate great food at local restaurants, went to a street fair, relaxed, and binge-watched the cooking competion show "Chopped". My son may be sorry I had such a good time, he may have a more frequent visitor!

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

Local stuff:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/new_mar_2019 
 

Blacklighting:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/irc_night_mar_2019
 

Los Cerritos Wetlands:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/hellman_mar_2019
 

Joshua Tree wildflowers:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/jtree_mar_2019
 

Tucson:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/tucson_mar_2019
 

Madera Canyon, AZ:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/madera_cyn_mar_2019