Well here we go again. At the beginning of the month, I caught COVID for the second time, followed by a bout of vertigo. Fortunately, I am well vaccinated, symptoms were mild, and I am recovered. However, I am extra cautious now that my mother is living with me, which meant I insisted on a lengthy isolation period until tests conclusively said negative. Isolation meant that I slept in my office/studio, and my husband left food by the door. After sleeping for a few days, I found I welcomed the mini-staycation. I enjoyed the solitude and lack of responsibilities, although I missed being able to move about the house freely, especially for snacks in the kitchen. My office has a back door that leads to my garden, so after I felt better, but during the days I still remained isolated, my husband and mother visited me at distance in the yard. I also continued doing some 'backyarding'. But after two days of that, I was antsy to escape and enjoy my freedom again.

Backyarding was very exciting. I got to watch a pair of Morning Dove fledglings grow up. They stuck around my yard for several weeks. I don't know where they went at night, but I saw them come back to my yard to sit in the shade of the apple tree. Initially, the parents came back to feed them and watch over them. One was aggressive in chasing off other doves from the yard. As they grew up, the young ones were left to come and go on their own. As they got older, one of the young ones became aggressive to other doves, defending his yard. And here I thought doves were a sign of peace. As the weeks progressed, I saw other young ones (and adults)  coming to spend time in my yard. It became hard to tell which were the original pair.

While I wasn't able to participate in the PV/South Bay Audubon Butterfly Count because of COVID, I was able to coordinate it and tabulate the results. Fortunately, my yard attracted many butterflies for me to enjoy, even if some were too fast to photograph. One of the most exciting butterflies in my yard was an Acmon Blue butterfly Icaricia acmon. Last month I reported seeing one lay eggs on my California Buckwheat. Alas, I never saw caterpillars. However, this month I saw one laying eggs on my Red-flowered Buckwheat Eriogonum grande, and nine days later I saw nine caterpillars of good size. There was also a wonderful assortment of wasps, bees, spiders, and other insects.

I went with friends on a very early morning trip to the Switzer picnic area in the San Gabriel Mountains. We were on the hunt for, and found, the Tropical Parula previously reported by others. You will not see a photo on my page. Poor lighting, hiding behind leaves high above us, and the fact that I had a hard time getting on it made my photos barely worthy of identification. I do have a few photos of the beautiful area, a Western Gray Squirrel, and Vivid Dancer damselflies. We also went to the LA river to to look for shorebirds. They are starting to come back.

There was quite a hot spell at the end of the month. The vegetation was drying up at my bird survey at the wetlands. A few young birds were seen and a few common butterflies.

I don't like heat! August may have me indoors in the A/C doing art. We'll see.

Happy nature watching. I hope you try a nice staycation, but not COVID.
 

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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_jul-2024

Switzer, San Gabriel Mountains:  https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/switzer_jul-2024

Los Cerritos Wetlands Monthly Survey:  https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/hellman_july-2024