Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, 6331 Woodley Ave, Los Angeles (Van Nuys), CA 91416
The Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area is huge. I didn’t see all of it but I wanted to see the wildlife reserve. The road to the reserve was closed, so I wound up parking at the golf course and walking along the wide dirt path that’s parallel to Burbank Blvd. It was a fairly busy walking path and it’s right next to a bike path and busy road, so it felt safe. The views are of the golf course and the road. They also had some old outdoor fitness equipment.
The path is flat. I turned right on Woodley Ave onto an asphalt path and then a dirt path again. This area seemed be a marshy wetland. The birdsong was nice though I could still hear the cars. But there were multiple tents with homeless people and a lot of trash. People were in the tents so I turned around.
I’ll try to make it to Lake Balboa and the nature reserve another day. I wouldn’t return to the trail that I visited near the golf course.
“ i think i’ll miss you forever. like the stars miss the sun in the morning sky ” — Summertime Sadness, Lana Del Rey
“ you and me, always forever. we could stay alone together. you and me, always forever. say you’ll stay, never be severed ” — Always Forever, Cults
“ if nothing’s perfect, then you and i are nothing tonight ” — Swimming in the Moonlight, Bad Suns
“ you’re so close, so close. and it’s you that i believe in, i believe in. so close, but faraway, so far i can’t touch ” — Fallen Angel ft. Aimee B, Mitsunori Ikeda
“ darling, i will always defend you. darling, when the sun shines, it shines for you ” — Darling, Mannequin Pussy
“ and i wonder, when i sing along with you. if everything could ever be this real forever. if anything could ever be this good again ” — Everlong, Foo Fighters
“ if you’re sinking, i am sinking. if you’re black and blue i bruise too ” — Scaredy Cat, On Drugs
“ in and out again, it was the best i ever had. in and out again, my life’s growing so sad ” — Sepulveda Basin, Liily
“ you’re out of touch, i’m out of time. but, i’m out of my head when you’re not around ” — Out of Touch, Daryl Hall & John Oates
“ i’m controlled by your love and that’s plain to see. but i’m proud to be controlled, i’m proud to be controlled by your love ” — I Am Controlled By Your, Helene Smith
“ pull my heart out, hold it close. won’t you hug me and hold me and tell me lovely? ” — Lovely, Mt. Eddy
On Friday, my uncle and I took a great walk at Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve. It has a small lake with a trail going around it, and there are a fair number of birds to see there--we spotted at least 26 species, even though we were fairly near busy roads. I got good photos of a few of them and saw 3 species I'd never seen before: Cassin's kingbird, western kingbird, and Lincoln's sparrow.
There were also many hummingbirds of at least two species (Anna's and Allen's), some American wigeons, double-crested cormorants (some sitting on nests in trees on a little island in the lake), Bewick's wrens, song sparrows, red-winged blackbirds, a few western bluebirds, yellow-rumped warblers (with plumage that looked a little different from the ones we get in the Bay Area), and pied-billed grebes (the cutest kind of grebe).
There were also a few turtles basking on logs in the water and I saw several little lizards along the trail.
We came back and ate lunch. I had to join a work meeting by phone, but it was pretty short. Then I did a little birdwatching in the backyard--a pair of Eurasian collared doves showed up, one of which was leucistic.
In the evening, a close friend from high school picked me up and we went out for a lovely dinner. It was great fun to catch up with her, but I confess I was rather alarmed to learn that her son is now a senior in high school (time has lost all meaning). They are in the anxious stage of waiting to hear which colleges and universities he got into.
I didn't get to bed until stupidly late because I was going through my bird photos and posting them to ask for input from @lies about what some of them were.
Today I slept in, but eventually my aunt and I managed to leave the house. We decided to go to LACMA. Unfortunately, we had not realised that today was SoCal Free Museum Day so of course it was incredibly crowded, plus only a small part of the museum is currently open while another building is being remodeled. Still, we saw a few interesting artworks. I liked Ai Weiwei's Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads, a Frida Kahlo painting I hadn't seen before called Weeping Coconuts, Magritte's Ceci n'est pas une pipe, and a soft sculpture by Dorothea Tanning called Xmas.
We looked at some of the La Brea Tar Pits on the way back to the car but didn't go into the museum. I hadn't known that they are still excavating fossils out of the tar pits!
Party Down - S3E6 “Sepulveda Basin High School Spring Play Opening Night”
*You guys...I was so mad when I learned Lizzy wouldn’t be in the new season. Then I learned they added Jennifer Garner, and, well, she’s one of my faves. Then I was sad when they had her and Henry break up BUT THEN CASEY KLEIN COMES BACK OUT OF NOWHERE AND I SCREAMED!!! What an amazing surprise. Lizzy and Adam have insane chemistry together onscreen.