At the end of last month my husband caught COVID. I got tested about four days later, and on April 1, I got back a result of negative. I was feeling rather invincible because of good health and vaccinations. My husband and I were both triple vaxed. I should have known it was April Fools'. That night I developed symptoms and the next morning I tested positive too. My symptoms were relatively mild with low fever, sore throat, and cold-like symptoms. My husband had a higher fever, cough, tight chest and was slower to recover. Not only did I feel crappy, but I felt deeply annoyed because I had to cancel two butterfly surveys and a pelagic birding trip while isolating even after I felt better. Fortunately, we have both fully recovered. With our current immunity, we will wait another couple of months for our fourth boosters. For now, we are feeling much freer to go out and about.

Despite only having a half a month to go out, I seem to have done a lot of nature things. While in isolation, I did get out into my own yard with my macro lens. Just the usual characters, moths, earwigs, and spiders, but fun. When I did get out, with Pride of Madeira blooming and other favorite flowers for hummingbirds, I shot the obligatory 'a thousand and one' in-flight shots.  Empidonax (aka Empids) and other flycatchers are migrating through. If you can't tell the different Empid species apart, don't worry, you are not alone. These are always a challenge. My friends and I have long discussions when we see one to discuss bill size and color, length of primaries, and eye-rings. This is all fascinating if you are into it, otherwise just poke a pencil in your eye.

I went to Bear Divide with a friend. Bear Divide is a narrow pass in the San Gabriel Mountains. It funnels migrating birds through the pass at dawn in the spring. It is a unique biological phenomenon. It also funnels in a large number of birders. In 2021, the Moore Lab of Zoology (no relation) at Occidental College began a regular count and bands some of the birds as they pass. There were not a lot of migrants when I went, but I got an appreciation for the pass and activities there. I saw the mist nets for catching the birds and saw a few Lazuli Buntings get banded. The scenery is beautiful, and I loved how the light changed as the sun came up. The only downside was setting the alarm for 4am!

There was nothing much remarkable about my bird survey of the Los Cerritos Wetlands, except for the number of Snowy and Great Egrets in the channel. I have not seen that many in that location before. It must have been a convention. When doing surveys, I don't always get a chance to take the pretty pictures I would like. I am generally just shooting to document and identify subjects. While I try to get a second better shot, that is not always possible and then we need to keep moving. It's just a different experience.

On the last day of the month, I participated in the Nature City Challenge events at the Historic Rancho Los Cerritos. My friend is the curator of living collections and manages all the gardens. The gardens are beautiful. In the morning, she and I did a survey of the birds. I caught a very bad photo but identifiable as a MacGillivray's Warbler. I rarely see them. I saw an Olive-sided Flycatcher eat a bee and then another bee buzzed around the bird and chased him off the perch. In the evening, about a dozen or so of my entomologically inclined friends went out to dinner and then surveyed for insects at night with blacklights. It was a most enjoyable day and night.

Happy Nature Walks. Stay safe.

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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_apr_2022

Bear Divide:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/bear_divide_apr_2022

Los Cerritos Wetlands Bird Survey:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/hellman_apr_2022

Rancho Los Cerritos Nature Challenge:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/rancho_los_cerritos_nature_challenge_apr_2022