My 4th annual January 1st LB100 (find 100 bird species in Long Beach) was re-planned as an elaborate scavenger hunt to bird safely during the pandemic. 22 people participated!!!! Four people got to over 100 birds and two people made it to 90 or better. The zoom after-party was well attended, by those who hadn’t crashed at the end of a long day, and was a lot of fun. I thought the year was off to a good start.

However, the new year did not come as the fresh start I had hoped for. Covid cases increased. My husband's son in England was hospitalized with it. My local son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter had mild cases.  Fortunately all recovered. This makes several family members who have suffered with it and a friend and several acquaintances who have died. Then we had the grim and horrific attack on the Capitol. I found my nerves raw this month and even with the relief of a transition of power, it takes intention for me to remain balanced. From what I hear from others, I am not alone in raw nerves and ill moods. 

While I have continued to go out for daily bird walks in an attempt for normalcy, I have gone alone more often. Birding has seemed a bit perfunctory. I want to escape talking about pandemic and politics, but find that when with friends, I seem only to talk about pandemic and politics. So here I am, starting my blog with talk of pandemic and politics.

Then there is a slight glimmer of hope on the horizon if enough vaccines can be given. My mother in New York City had been trying daily to get appointments with no luck yet, but suddenly a friend tipped her off and she got her first dose. This is huge relief. My husband and I are still waiting for local stocks to be replenished. 

On to talk of nature. Recalling some of the wild things I've seen this month makes me smile, and I deeply need that.

I enjoyed watching gulls. Often they are either overlooked or dismissed as scavenging 'seagulls'. However, I find that once you try to get to know them, they are diverse and have great personalities (or is that gullinalities). Western Gulls are quite common. I enjoyed an encounter at the end of Belmont Pier. An adult gull had swallowed several fish. I'm not sure if it had caught them itself or had poached them from the bait bucket of some fisherman on the pier. A young gull harangued the parent until the fish were coughed up. Gulls take three to four years to mature, depending on the species. Their plumage changes each year, which is why many just give up on them and just call them gulls. Heerman's Gulls, however, are striking and sleek. I managed to photograph them in each of the four years of plumage. 'Cute' is a term not often applied to gulls, but Mew Gulls, are comparatively smaller and, in the gull world, can be called cute.

Shorebirds are fun to watch. I love Sanderlings darting back and forth at the edge of the surf. A Marbled Godwit was minding his own business when the Whimbrel decided to be a brat. The Whimbrel poked the Godwit in the butt and pulled out a feather.

Each photo in my set has some story, but I can't tell them all. But just a few more notable observations, a Kestrel found a Fig-eater beetle to eat. That is rather late in the season for that beetle. A California Scrub Jay found a Western Fence Lizard tasty. I had heard they eat them, but this is the first time I witnessed it. I generally see them eating acorns, or maybe backyard peanuts. A Cassin's Kingbird was one of seven devouring the fruit from a tree. They were tossing the fruit in the air and squeezing it to get to the pulp inside. A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher gorged itself on a swarm of termites.

At the very end of the month, I ventured into Orange County and discovered two new parks, a Mexican Duck, and had fun with raptors. And then it rained. It has been so dry, that the rain was actually a metaphorical ray of sunshine.

I think I shall recalibrate my personal calendar and now look forward to a fresh optimistic start of the new year starting February 12, Chinese New Year.
 

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

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