Walking through Descanso Gardens on a late December morning we saw nearly 2 dozen different species of birds. It's a beautiful walk through classic gardens and native plants. Here are a few of birds we got on camera!
The Earth Minute is all about taking a moment to connect with the world around you. Linger in one place for a few minutes and be amazed at the life around you.
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Looking for just a few minutes at one spot at Sepulveda Wildlife Basin we spotted:
American coots
song sparrow
double-crested cormorant
mosquito fish
a true bug
You can find an Earth Minute anywhere, just stop and focus outside of yourself.
As the Los Angeles River heads to the ocean, this is the first section that has a “soft” or natural bottom. Most of the concrete disappears and the River is allowed to strive for wildness.
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You can easily walk this section along a dirt road/path from Lake Balboa to the Sepulveda Dam. The flow of the river slows and vegetation provides habitat. We were surprised to find wetlands between one of the golf courses and the River.
American wigeons and mallards
Birds abound here; we saw 42 species including the Canada geese, red-tailed hawk, American coots, American wigeons, mallards, snowy egrets, and a great blue heron highlighted in the video.
The fish in the river with flashy silver sides were counted by agency biologists on December 1, 2015 and found to be introduced tilapia. While the tilapia provide food for native birds, they are not a native species. Biologists are hoping the potential El Niño will wash these rapidly increasing non-native fishes out of the river. See the article in the L.A. Times.
Native fish species were decimated when the River was cemented in the 1930s. Restoring the River means helping native fish reestablish populations. Wouldn’t it be a major success to have steelhead and salmon return to spawn in the Los Angeles River?
My favorite stretch of the River, just above the Sepulveda Dam
We took an early stroll the day before Thanksgiving, 2015 in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area through a little 200 acre gem of a park.
Rocky Oaks Park is a short drive away from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.
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Sunlight in the early morning plays through the oaks, pines, and rocks of the park.
Rocky Oaks Park is located in the 31500 block of Mulholland Highway west of the Kanan Road
intersection. The entrance is on the north side of Mulholland Highway. Take the Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101) to Kanan Road. South on Kanan Road
to Mulholland Highway. Turn west (right) on Mulholland Highway and right
again into the parking lot.
GPS Coordinates: N 34.0967 W -118.8141
Nice, well maintained trails. Dogs allowed on leash. Water available. Meeting circle, ranger area under the oaks.
One of our California desert tortoises is having a hard time settling down for the winter. HD The weather has been cool and windy. The others are fast asleep, but this old female is still up and about.
What causes desert tortoises to enter winter torpor? The science is still out, but it seems to me that it is not one thing. Yes, cool weather is part of it, but it's been in the low 40 degrees F at night for nearly a week. The days have been windy and typically in the low 60s. Still she slowly wanders out to find a place in the sun. Low angle sunlight, shortening daylight, cold winds, all of these play a role. Yet, this old girl hasn't settled in.
This is her first winter with us and she just hasn't decided to let down her guard and go to sleep. Despite her grumpiness it is calming to spend time with her. She's probably close to 90 years old. She's a wise one, she'll find a place to sleep away the winter.
Walk along with us from Winnetka to the bridge at Tampa and the end of the Bike Trail at the Vanalden footbridge.
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Each bridge and section has its own artistic style. Here there were decorative leaf patterns.
We saw 13 species of birds, including a pair of killdeer, American crows, white-crowned sparrows, lesser goldfinches and the group of least sandpipers that I saw further up the river.
We're almost to the area where the creeks from the Chatsworth area join the river. Hike Limekiln Canyon Park, CA(Pacific tree frog, western fence lizard)
At the turn of the last century, an Associated Press correspondent mistakenly identified Santana winds as "Santa Ana" winds in a 1901 dispatch.
Raymond Chandler wrote a 1938 short story about them called
"Red Wind"
"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas
that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves
jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little
wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can
happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge."
View a video from our yard as the winds parch the drought stressed plants early the morning....
Discover the River walkway from the Headwaters to DeSoto Ave.
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They say the river begins where Bell Creek and the Calabasas Arroyo combine. Since the 1940s that location has been fixed just north of the intersection of Owensmouth and Vanowen in Canoga Park. (Just a skip away from the Topanga Mall.)
yarrow
The sculpted 'V' of the waters coming together forms a jut of land that is topped with the Canoga Park High School sports field. From Owensmouth east, a foot path has been added along the River. Native plants provide habitat for butterflies and birds, while thin riffles of water flow over narrow sandbars on a cement stream bed.
It's quite beautiful really: the lines of the bridges, sweeping fins of concrete, heron-themed gateways.
During a walk from Owensmouth to DeSoto and back, I saw a variety of bird species, including yellow-rumped warblers, a pair of white-crowned sparrows, and a black phoebe.
small group of migrating least sandpipers
Least sandpipers (Calidris minutilla) were stopping to feed on watery insects. While, American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) played 'catch the stone' mid-air over the water.
There were views of the Santa Susana and Santa Monica Mountains, where the water originates. Benches built along the pathway offer respite for a thoughtful moment. Trash cans and dog waste stations are plentiful. Walk the north side of the River and the path will take you under Canoga Ave.
I'm excited to embrace the L.A. River as a place to visit, but this ideal is fragile. Neglect and trash can quickly mar the opportunity. Let's take ownership of our river. Use the plentiful trash cans and dog stations. We have a chance to recreate something soulful and living. Let's not allow apathy and ignorance to destroy this chance for a Walk by the River.
It can be hard to understand the true size of a California coast redwood tree (Sequoia sempervirens) until you measure it out.
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That is exactly what school children from the Santa Barbara Charter School have done at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden as part of a temporary fiber arts installation.
Take a walk through the dreams of trees and plants as envisioned at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Look for the "rain catcher."
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fiber sculpture California poppy
"Dormant Dreams" is a temporary fiber arts installation by Yarn Blaster Babes and their collaborators at the Santa Barbara Fiber Arts Guild and students from Santa Barbara Charter School.
Especially in the quiet rain, you could hear the trees dreaming.
Despite the drought, you can still have green landscaping in California if you go native. Take a minute and appreciate the variety of leaves among our native plants. HD
These natives are green and healthy even at the end of a dry summer.
CA coast redwood
How do they do it? Adaptations to their leaves help them avoid moisture loss.
Some leaves are fuzzy with tiny filaments that help break of the sun's pounding rays. A velvety leaf also reduces air movement across the surface, thereby reducing transpiration of moisture. Waxy leaves help seal in moisture, also reducing transpiration.
San Nicolas Island chamise
Narrow leaves reduce surface area exposed to the sun. Some plants like the fairy duster (Calliandra) respond to direct sunlight by closing up their leaves to further reduce exposure. When the sun is less severe, the narrow leaves unfurl and open wide.
sword fern
Many California native plants have evolved with combinations of these adaptations making them successful drought survivors and good choices for planting in yards. Here is a list of the plants as they appear in the video:
Wind thunders across the North American prairie. During the night, tornado warnings kept everyone on edge. The next morning the wind still had a strong hand, but it was a fraction of what it had been. The perfect time to go for a walk and experience an Earth Minute. HD
Can you spot the camouflaged owl in the tree?
I came across a great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) sheltering from the stormy weather.
