I’ve had Arlo Guthrie’s song in my head for the last day because yesterday, after a nice trip into the city to visit the Museum of Art, we birded part of City Park (Coutuerie Forest) where we saw some nice birds.
City Park is as magical and unique as the city of New Orleans – and the birds like it too.
Downtown LA is sprinkled with a number of small parks – one of which was just up above Sally’s nephew’s home. So early Sunday morning I took a long walk up to Elysian Park – the city’s second largest (600 acres) park which while dry and dusty, is filled with runners, dogs, and birds. Here’s the first one I saw (and was a little unsure on identity but believe it’s a Hutton’s Vireo.)
There are also nice views of the city although the visibility was limited by smoke from the fires to the north.
There were many juncos and several towhees along the paths.
In a section with more greenery, I saw a dozen Black Phoebes, including this one which looks very light in the morning sun.
Four Acorn Woodpeckers were making their rounds.
I saw a couple of Western bluebirds, many yellow-rumps, and a host of other species. What a treat to find a great birding in downtown LA.