Last month I wrote about migration and said that, if you missed birds during migration, you had to wait until they returned in the fall to see them. Well, that was not entirely true. If you miss them during migration, you can follow them. My friend and I woke up particularly early one morning to drive up to the San Gabriel Mountains. She did the driving through the winding roads and through the morning clouds until we were above the marine layer that covers the LA basin. The campground was surprisingly empty. Maybe it was because it had recently reopened after the 2020 Bobcat Fire, or maybe because one group had their music from the club with them, and the beat of the bass could be heard in the surrounding camps early in the morning. Fortunately the music didn't envelop the entire area.

We did see the Violet-green Swallows, Lazuli Buntings, and Western Wood-pewees that passed our area quickly during spring migration. We also saw Yellow-rumped Warblers which had spent the winter with us and now moved back to higher elevation. We also saw the birds that are year-round residents of the mountains including White-headed Woodpeckers, Pygmy Nuthatches, and Steller's Jays. Many of the birds are high in the trees or deep in the brush. It is hard to see them much less photograph them, and we had to rely on our ears. We were surrounded by bird songs, many of which were a challenge for us to figure out. Some we are less familiar with because we don't have those birds locally, but even the birds familiar to us have different songs in their breeding grounds in the mountains. And then there are young birds who haven't quite figured out their proper voice yet. We enjoyed the challenge. We picnicked back at the Burkhart trailhead and watched Fontana Grasshoppers raising and lowering their legs. I think this is called femur-tipping and is a male territorial dance.

The Bobcat Fire in the San Gabriel Mountains was in September of 2020. Part of the area looked OK, but major portions showed quite a bit of fire damage. Perhaps this is why I get nervous and don't like campfires, or any fires for that matter. Even the whiff of smoke sends me on high alert. Perhaps anecdotal, but I saw very few, squirrels and chipmunks, and this is two years since the fires.

From there we went back to Chilao on our way home. We birded around the day-use area and visitor center. The water feature was dry, and feeders were picked clean. Overall it was pretty darned quiet. Traffic coming down the mountain was not bad, and we got home by 4 PM. Despite getting up too early, winding roads to get there, no cell service, and the fire damage, the company was great and the birding turned out quite good. We had a lovely time.

We had such a good time that we went back again at the end of the month. In just three weeks, there were more baby birds. We watched a pair of Brown Creepers nest building. A mother Black-throated Gray Warbler was feeding her baby and a Brown-headed Cowbird baby (a brood parasite). There had been some big rain in the time between our visits, and some more wildflowers appeared in the burn areas. It was interesting to see the changes in just a short time.

My June butterfly survey with Irvine Ranch Conservancy had many butterflies. This month was much warmer, and by the end of the route I felt the heat. Perhaps it was the heat that brought out all the butterflies. There were two highlights for me. First highlight was that there were quite a few Intermediate Weed's Mariposa Lilies. They are one of my favorites and I have not often seen them. The second highlight was a Western Yellow-bellied Racer. It was very green in the sun. I almost stepped on it and let out two simultaneous shrieks, one because I almost stepped on the snake, and one because it was a cool snake that I had never seen before. Checkered White and Funereal Duskywing butterflies were quite abundant. We also saw quite a few Dainty Sulfur butterflies.

Locally, they say things get quiet in the summer. Migrants are gone. True, the number of species is down, but watching all the young of our resident birds is fun. Fuzzy babies are fun, especially baby herons that look like Muppets. Babies molting have feathers all askew. Insects are also having babies this time of year. I found out that earwigs provide some level of parental care and guard their eggs and young. Booklice are very very tiny and their nymphs are even tinier.

As you probably know by now, I like birds and insects. I gave a talk to Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon on the insects birds eat. It was a chance to combine the two. It is my way of making insects palatable for birders. Zoom can be quite challenging. I prefer in-person presentations when you can get feedback as you present. Here is the recording of the presentation. https://pvsb-audubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GMT20220622-021509_Recording_1920x900.mp4

I was so glad I went to the bird survey out on the Los Cerritos Wetlands. While it was generally very quiet, the highlight was a mother Red-tailed Hawk teaching her teens to hunt for themselves. Twice we saw her catch rodents. Each time, she got the attention of her very noisy children, but refused to feed them. Instead, she took her prey over an empty part of the field and dropped it. She made the children go down and get it for themselves.  Once, she missed and dropped it in deeper vegetation. She went down, retrieved it, and dropped it in a more open location.  It all happened fast and my survey friends wanted to move on, so I was lucky to capture some of the action.

I made some quick art. Just whimsical cat themed pieces.

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.

Local Stuff:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/new_jun_2022

San Gabriel Mountains:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/san_gabriels_jun_2022

Irvine Ranch Conservancy Butterfly Survey:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/irc_jun-2022

Los Cerritos Wetlands Bird Survey:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/hellman_jun_2022