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Outside my window ##Time-lapse ##clouds ##sky ##nature ##outdoors

♬ Dreamy – Elijah Lee

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Waitin’ on a plane…to Madrid and then Porto Portugal

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Have you been to the California Science Center in Los Angeles? Other science centers?
What was your favorite exhibit?

Diver at the California Science Center

Visiting with our Italian family.

California Science Center Web Site

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Angels Flight – A Minute/Moment in Los Angeles 3

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Learn more about Los Angeles with these books

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Books available at the LA Public Library

LA/SFV Street Scene

Wandering the neighborhood yesterday. 

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Learn more about the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles

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** All these books available at the LA Public Library

Google Photos created this short animation from my photos taken at Descanso Gardens. This animation actually works much better than any of the individual photos alone.

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1.5 minutes of footage of Black-necked Stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) in the Los Angeles River taken on December 20, 2015 in Burbank, California.

From Wikipedia…

The black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) is a locally abundant shorebird of American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through much of the interior western United States and along the Gulf of Mexico as far east as Florida, then south through Central America and the Caribbean to northwest Brazil southwest Peru, east Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands. The northernmost populations, particularly those from inland, are migratory, wintering from the extreme south of the United States to southern Mexico, rarely as far south as Costa Rica; on the Baja California peninsula it is only found regularly in winter.[2]

It is often treated as a subspecies of the common or black-winged stilt, using the trinomial name Himantopus himantopus mexicanus.[3] However, the AOU has always considered it a species in its own right, and the scientific name Himantopus mexicanus is often seen. Matters are more complicated though; sometimes all five distinct lineages of the Common Stilt are treated as different species. But the White-necked Stilt from southern South America (H. h. melanurus when only one species is recognized), parapatric and intergrading to some extent with its northern relative where their ranges meet, would warrant inclusion with the Black-necked stilt when this is separated specifically, becoming Himantopus mexicanus melanurus. Similarly, the Hawaiian stilt, H. m. knudseni, is likely to belong to the American species when this is considered separate; while some treat it as another distinct species, the AOU, BirdLife International and the IUCN do not.[4] Thus, in their scheme the black-necked stilt is properly named Himantopus mexicanus mexicanus.[5]

Read the entire article

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As a part of a friend’s project to walk the entire Los Angeles River, we joined some friends to walk the segment from Warner Bros Studio, past the Disney Studio, through the LA Equestrian Center and ending at Bette Davis Park at Victory Blvd in Burbank.

Find out more about this project on Animalbytes

See some photos from this walk in my Flickr Photostream

Music: “Carefree” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) under Creative Commons License

Here is the complete list of birds we saw on the walk.

American Wigeon (Anas americana) 11 three pairs plus individuals
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 6 three pairs
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 1 on the river among other ducks
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 2 Watched heron catch a 7-8 inch catfish. It also appeared to be a non-native fish species.
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 2 Watched one catch a 6 inch catfish out of the river. It did not appear to be a native fish species.
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) 3
American Coot (Fulica americana) 22 group together in middle of the river
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) 70 feeding in large groups
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) 1
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 1
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 67 feeding together in loose groups along shallow edges of the river
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) 1
California Gull (Larus californicus) 3
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon)) 33 on wires over Equestrian Center
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 22 sitting in snag tree
Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna) 2
Allen’s Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin) 1
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) 1 perched on fence overlooking river
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) 7 in Bette Davis Park
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 1
Red-crowned Parrot (Amazona viridigenalis) 8 appeared to be in pairs, sitting in the tops of sycamore trees in Bette Davis Park
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) 7 each in separate territories
Western Scrub-Jay (Coastal) (Aphelocoma californica [californica Group]) 2
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 2
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 2
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) 5
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s) (Setophaga coronata auduboni) 7 abundant in trees along the river
Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus) 3 in shrubs along the river
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) 6 feeding with lesser goldfinches in non-native shrubs
California Towhee (Melozone crissalis) 3
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 32 feeding in grassy areas and shrubs along the river
Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) 11 feeding in non-native trees
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 3 at Equestrian Center

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26399324

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Joseph is performing in this new play at his high school, opening in just one week. Join us for a fun evening of theater! — Douglas & Rosanne

Lily the Glitch

A World Premiere by Chris Piehler

A world premiere comedy, fantasy, murder-mystery, adventure inspired by and written for the students of Providence High Arts Drama.

Learn more about the process now!  Watch a featurette by Mario Adriano (PHS Alumni)

November 13th, 14th, 19th, 20th & 21st  at 7pm
Providence High School Theatre

$16 – General Admission

$20 – Priority Seating (Must arrive by 6:40pm)

House opens at 6:30pm for Priority Seating

House opens at 6:45pm for General Admission

*Seating is not guaranteed for guests arriving beyond showtime.

PURCHASE TICKETS NOW!

Our friend, Keri from Animalbytes.net has started a project to walk and document the entire Los Angeles Rover, from its headwaters in Bell Canyon here in the San Fernando Valley to the sea in Long Beach. Today, we joined her for a short segment of the river from Winnetka Ave to Tampa Avenue. Here are a few photos and thoughts from our walk. we plan on joining Keri for additional sections of the river as time allows,including her walk through one of the wisest stretches of the river as it passes through the Sepulveda Basin.

Read Keri’s Post on our walk and see her photos in her blog, Animalbytes

This section of the river has an improved bike and walking path including solar lighting, benches, drinking fountains and botanical landscaping.

While Southern California plants are pretty much in dormancy this time of year, especially due to our long running drought, we found a few blooms along our walk.

We also spotted some wildlife along the river, including sandpipers, killdeer, hummingbirds, pigeons and these crows bathing in the small amount of water in the river at the moment.

Signage at the Tampa Avenue entrance to the river walkway.

Watch a slide show of the photos from Walking the Los Angeles River – Winnetka to Tampa – November 2, 2015