Results tagged “birds”

Once upon a time, Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley boasted its own theme park. The theme, ostensibly: Beer. Well, what else would you make the central focus of an amusement park located on the property of a major brewery?

       

A visit to Channel Islands National Park means an hour or longer boat ride across the Santa Barbara Channel. Your travel takes you over the National Marine Sanctuary where without a doubt--unless the weather is treacherous--you're bound to see some amazing ocean wonders. In two recent trips, we've seen hundreds of dolphins, seals, birds, a whale, a sun fish and last weekend, something very unusual, a feeding frenzy.

Last month, Customs and Border Protection were waiting when Song Dong of Garden Grove returned to Los Angeles from Vietnam. During inspection, they initially noticed bird feathers and droppings on his socks and upon a further look, "14 live birds attached to two flat pieces of clothe that were wrapped around his calves," according to the United States Attorneys Office.

November's Prop 2 passed, essentially according rights to chickens--a fact pecked upon by 'No on 8' supporters in protest signs and chants in the election aftermath. Well, give a chicken an inch, and the whole animal kingdom is poised to take their mile, thanks to state lawmakers and the be-feathered or be-furred bills that are heading to Sacramento for approval.

Now if you want to get out there and revel in Obama’s day events, then check out our post from yesterday; but see the listings below for non-Obama events:

After coming back from near extinction, wildlife rescuers are concerned by the recent problems facing the California brown pelican. For unknown reasons, the pelicans are disoriented and bruised, and landing on highways, airport runways, alleys, and backwards miles from the normal coastal homes, according to the LA Times.

Pelicans in Huntington Beach have apparently been targeted by someone who is deliberately breaking their wings, leading ultimately to the birds' deaths. 11 brown pelicans have died in a three-day span, which has alerted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who are investigating the deaths and looking for the responsible party. According to MyFox Los Angeles, "The Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, which is caring for the lone surviving pelican, has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible."

I'm for feeding birds all year, but as we're celebrating it this month, stop a moment and be grateful that our warm-blooded friends live in the California climate. As the Wild Bird Centers of America reminds us:

How do you tactfully say "watch out for bird poo overhead"? The LA Zoo has it down. Even those "poo prints" on the sign look like decor, not the real deal. Photo by Just chaos via Flickr...

Pigeons in Hollywood have it quite good. There are always new tourists to poop on, there are a variety of internationally delicious dumpsters to dine from, the weather is usually good, and now a local group is providing our feathered friends with free contraception so they can get down without worrying about producing a bunch of unwanted chicks. "We think we've got a good solution to a bad situation," said Laura Dodson, president of...