January 1 -- Los Angeles, Both Compelling And Hellish -- And Birds At Terranea

I'm now in Overton, Nevada. When I mention Overton most people say "where?" and even when I tell them it's on a northern arm of "Lake" Mead (I put that in quotes as it's a reservoir)  they still scratch their heads. I'll be in Overton for the month of January, so I'll describe it and the surrounding areas as time goes on. But first, a summation of my 2-week visit to the South Bay section of Los Angeles. I stayed with my father who has a condo with a great view of the LA basin. It's literally a city of millions -- millions of people, millions of lights at nighttime, and millions of cars. Portal, the San Simon Valley, and the Chiricahuas where I now live is almost the exact opposite -- 600 people at most within a 15-mile radius, very few lights at night (no street lights, no sidewalks, very few house lights as there are few houses) and what cars there are, are mostly trucks, with cowboy hats and a rifle rack or two inside. (OK, perhaps I'm exaggerating a little for effect, but a lot of rural ranching and farming goes on there.) Admittedly, LaLaLand can have a bewitching beauty, particularly the downtime skyline at night; here it's reflecting the last light from the sun, as the city lights go on --

But there is, of course, a darker look to Los Angeles. The next photo was taken from my dad's balcony; the condo is in San Pedro, otherwise known as the Port of Los Angeles, a somewhat gritty area of docks, container ships, and refineries. Here's one of those oil refineries. It's burning off gas, but with the flame and refinery lights it looks somewhat, well, demonic -- or a futuristic scene out of "Blade Runner". Which, ironically enough, was set in a Los Angeles just a few years from now -- 

But even in this science fiction landscape, there can be a bit of poetry -- 

But San Pedro, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula adjacent to it, is not all like that. The peninsula used to be an island, and is more related geologically to Catalina Island, 26 miles away, than to the mainland, to which it's now attached. Here's looking northwest up the rugged shoreline ; the green on the right is part of Donald Trump's golf course; I shall refrain from any snide remarks about who just might be our next president, Lord help us -- 

That photo was taken with my 17-55 f/2.8 landscape lens. I used my 500 f/4 lens for the next one; it's the last "arm" of the peninsula seen in the above photo. The buildings are part of Terranea resort, which was built on the former site of Marineland of the Pacific -- the SeaWorld of its day. Now it's a posh hotel, along with  million-dollar homes --

And, surprisingly, there are a lot of "good" birds to  be found on the grounds of the resort. Part of the deal to building Terranea was to rehabilitate the surrounding area with native shrubs and plants, and that has attracted birds that haven't been seen there in years. But now they're thriving... Here are 2 Savannah Sparrows -- 

And the REAL success story has been the return of the California Gnatcatcher. It had pretty much disappeared from the area after its habitat had been destroyed, but now that the native flora has for the most part returned, the Cal Gnatcatcher is back. I visited Terranea 2 days straight and saw about 10 in the sagebrush -- 

That's one going grabbing hold of the wing of an insect on the ground. Their song, though hard to hear, sounds like the mewing of kittens. Further on down, near the shoreline, is Nelson's, a swank restaurant, but I wasn't interest in that; there were "red hot poker" plants nearby, which was attracting birds; here's a Say's Phoebe -- 

An Orange-crowned Warbler in a very complimentary setting --

And the hummingbirds.. Surprisingly, this is a great place to photograph them. The sun is at your back in the early morning, and they're going for the nectar in the blooming red hot poker plants; 

here's a juvenile Anna's male -- 

And an adult Mr. Anna's; only the male hummingbirds have the gorget which, with the sun at the right angle, shines with color -- 

And sometimes you get lucky... I took about 50 shots of this juvenile Allen's hummingbird, and in this one shot I got it extending its tongue -- 

And here's the adult male Allen's, complete with iridescent gorget color -- 

So San Pedro, the Palos Verdes Peninsula, indeed areas in Los Angeles, has its wild, or half-tamed, areas -- Averill Park (Townsend's Warblers, and visiting Green Heron, Mandarin Duck, Snowy Egret, and Belted Kingfisher); Eastview Park  behind a Coco's restaurant (Western Bluebird, and a group of us discovered a White-throated Sparrow there, which is uncommon for the area); Terranea; the South Coast Botanic Garden (a migrant trap which has seen 2 Mississippi Kites and Thick-billed Kingbird in recent years, among others); Point Fermin with its 2 resident Peregrine Falcons; and many other oases in a sprawling urban setting. It's a great reminder that nature is all around us -- if we can only SEE it. But now it's time to say goodbye to LaLaLand, and on to Overton, Nevada, to be reunited with my travel trailer Discovery II...