Just two days into the new year and I did some marathon birding, artwork, worked on a jigsaw puzzle, and had a minor plumbing disaster. End of the month much of the same and a catalytic converter stolen. This is probably an indication of how my year will go. January is a particularly good time for birding (when isn't it?), but less so for insects. I hope all the rain we have this winter will bring spring flowers.

Some birders, myself included, like to keep a list of the birds they have seen for the year. Of course that starts on January 1 with my January 1st event, called the LB100. It was a great success.  A group of us go out and try to find 100 species of birds within the city of Long Beach on the 1st day of the year. I wrote a separate blog post about it. https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/blog/2022/1/happy-new-year---lb100-2022

You may know that I am interested in predator/prey relationships. I found it interesting that I had never before seen an American Kestrel eat a bat and then this month I saw two different birds in two different locations get one! Not the best photos, but interesting none the less. Brown Creepers are usually found in the mountains or foothills. They blend in with their backgrounds so well that they are easy to miss. We have one that has decided to visit Long Beach for the winter. I caught him (or her?) digging under bark for insects and pull out a Noble False Widow spider. These spiders have rapidly expanded their range. I guess the Creeper is trying to keep the population in check.

I went on not one, but two, pelagic birding trips. The first was out of Dana Point in Orange County. The morning sky was very pretty with the sun trying to break through the marine layer. Highlights were an abundance of Northern Fulmars, four Brown Boobies, and Common Dolphin and a Harbor Seal. The next trip was out of Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles County. A little slow at times for birds, but we saw the expected birds and so many dolphin.

I went with a few friends to Antelope Valley. It has been too long since I went there. We visited the agriculture fields near Lancaster and then Saint Andrew's Abbey on the north slope of the San Gabriel Mountains. Prairie Falcon and Ferruginous Hawk are always spectacular, but the highlight of the day was the gracious homeowner where the Long-eared Owl had been recorded on eBird. He came out of his house and gave us a tour of the trees in the orchard showing us three Barn Owls, a Great Horned Owl, and two Long-eared Owls.

My monthly Los Cerritos Wetlands bird survey (that I have been doing for many years), was remarkably uneventful. While there is always something interesting, it seemed less birdy and with fewer raptors. The fun find this time was a young Cooper's Hawk that landed on the phone lines. These birds don't perch on wires because hey are too big and unwieldy, as this one found out. It eventually settled on the phone pole and gave a scowl.

I made an effort to experiment a bit with Gelli printing for my artwork. What makes this technique interesting is the same thing that I enjoy about nature walks, you never know what you will find. There is always an element of discovery, and hopefully a pleasant surprise. I use the paper in collage. I'm liking it. Here is a separate blog describing the technique: https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/blog/2022/1/gelli-print-collage---becoming-and-artist

Happy Nature Walks. 

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Watch the slideshows or click on the links to look through at your own pace. Links open in a new tab.

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

Local Stuff:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/new_jan_2022

Pelagic Trip out of Dana Point:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/pelagic_trip_jan_2022

Pelagic Trip out of Marina del Rey:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/pelagic_trip2_jan_2022

Antelope Valley:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/north_slope_san_gabriels_jan_2022

Los Cerritos Wetlands bird survey:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/hellman_jan-2022