Pigeon-watching hotspots to see around town #8: Santa Monica Pier and Bluffs Flock, by Day and by Night.

 

The world-famous Santa Monica Pier Lighted Display Arch, in Santa Monica, CA, USA.

Santa Monica is definitely one of the Los Angeles region's most popular tourist destinations, with many attractions within the city; the Santa Monica Pier, being the most prominent landmark in town, with the sun's setting happening over the Pacific Ocean, each evening, off over the horizon, or beyond Malibu and Topanga Canyon. It's nature's majesty at some of its best, on the west coast. 

Taking a closer, more localized look around the area, we are witnessing a novel animal amusement park beginning to develop, in recent years. The locals might have typically been considered to have been wondering what to do about this huge flock of hundreds of pigeons, nearby the pier? The topic had even made the news, back in 2022, when a man took up the call to action, at a time when the fear of birds, due to the pandemic, had further pushed pigeons, amongst the public, out on a lonely boat, at sea, so to speak. 

Unforeseen, a rich and bustling wildlife scene has become established, with huge numbers of squirrel families now populating the bluffs, and the pigeons show up for a piece of the action, as well. 

Hordes of squirrel families have propogated themselves on the Santa Monica Freeway / Pacific Coast Highway bluffs, neighboring the Santa Monica Pier. The bluffs feature exciting natural ecology for both squirrels, as well as pigeons, to thrive, amongst the tourists and local wildlife lovers, alike.

The pigeons and squirrels make for a lively and dynamic daily foray, amongst the panoramic views of local beach-side ecology and the ocean horizon.

The pigeons and squirrels of the Santa Monica State Beach Bluffs work out who's eating what, out of what I throw out, for the birds. 

An Iranian pigeon checks out a squirrel who'd bossed his way in to getting some of the food, while the other critters and a fellow pigeon look on.

These day time photos were from a recent Day 1: of a weekend, 2-day excursion,in which I'd ended up at the beach, to do recycling. This pigeons and squirrels dynamic is really a new thing, over the past year or two, or so - there definitely had not been so many squirrels. There's really a lot of them, but there's so many tourists, and they seem to all get by, just fine, as is, and I'm sure that the city's Animal Control staff can figure out what to do, if there were a problem about overpopulation, or something. 

The next time I came down to Santa Monica (earlier, last night), I arrived around evening / just past sundown, for my Day 2 excursion. This time, I spotted another pigeon presence novelty - the underneath-the-pier night shift pigeons. A nighttime flock of pigeons who are active, still, is quite rare, here in the Greater Los Angeles area, so - making Santa Monica a stop, in your day, whether it be night time, or sun out, seeing the pigeons out, doing their thing, can fit in to most any tourist schedule.

As I walked along the beach, passing underneath the pier, some of the local pigeons flew down from the rafters, and they decided to check me out, to see if I had any food for them.

Some pigeons from the pier flock, at nighttime, mingling as they discover a prospect for a meal.

I had some bread, so I gave them what I had, and the birds were happy. 

The next time you're out in Santa Monica, perhaps you'll encounter these pigeons, along your path, on and around the beach and bluffs.

A pigeon pursues a potential companion, or young one, as pigeons will do.

Pigeon-watching hotspots to see around town #7: Universal City / Studio city Metro Station and Bus Hub.

 

The Universal City / Studio City Metro Station flock of pigeons is an extra-special flock to see, along the Metro Red Line (B Line).

Wow, what an exciting flock of birds! For years, now, I'd been coming to visit the Universal City / Studio City flock of pigeons, here and there, and the birds never let me down, in offering an amusing and interactive birdwatching and bird-feeding session. Today, right before the beginning of summer, was no different. 

This time, I came with Hawaiian burger buns, since I was making burgers, later on, as well as pastries. For refreshments, I brought Sparkling Ice brand flavored water.

A sprawl of pigeons, amidst the street surface level of the Universal City / Studio City Metro Station and Bus Hub.

A baby pigeon seeks out some food, in the planters at the Metro Station. 

An adult pigeon follows the baby pigeon around, in the planter.

The adult pigeon chases the baby pigeon around, in an effort to socialize the baby pigeon, appropriately. 

Here, we have a flock of birds at its best - the birds are away from the civic center of Los Angeles, and there's fewer criminals who try to catch the birds. Hence, the birds are much more comfortable, and in their element, and they're more willing to interact with their human caregivers. On this day, the birds had a bountiful feast of Hawaiian buns and pastries.

The pigeons, here, at the Universal City / Studio City Metro Station, often congregate off to the side, nearby the planters.

I made sure to offer the birds a dish of cold water, since it was a hot day. They took to it, just fine!

The birds started to get wise, as to where the food was, and they raided my large pastry that I brought for them. 

Soon afterwards, more pigeons began to flock to the pastry, and they ate the whole thing.

A delicious meal, for these birds. 

I recommend this spot, for bird-loving tourists, for an optimal bird-feeding experience (they're much more lively and friendly, once they're fed). 

Pigeon-watching hotspots to see around town #6: North Hollywood Metro Station and Bus Hub.

North Hollywood is known for its arts, and the Metro Station, here, is typically a lively, bustling marketplace, featuring food and performances by musicians. 

 I recently started making trips out to North Hollywood, having garnered some gig work, out in the valley, so naturally, I would check out the local bird-feeding scene, being that the station features some shade and shelter for wildlife. 

Although there aren't many pigeons, out at this station, there is a growing population of sparrows, and they're attractive, in and of themselves. 

On my way out, though, I encountered some pigeons within the station, at the platform level. Station-wandering pigeons are always a lovely feature. I tossed them some bun crumbs, and the pigeons had a nice, quick meal. 

A pair of station-dwelling pigeons, at the North Hollywood Metro Station.

The pigeons had some bread, while I was here. 

A look at the station's platform, with the station-dwelling pigeons in frame. 

Pigeon-watching hotspots to see in town - # 1: The 7th at Metro Station Pigeon Family.

Here in Los Angeles, pigeons that frequent Metro rail stations are generally nothing new, but don't these novel and sometimes adventuresome pigeons make the stations something out of a storybook? They get to live in the stations, at all times, even in the off-hours. It's a trade off - of convenience, for being housed, so to speak, for security and warmth, essentially. 

2024's 7th at Metro baby pigeon, out at night, looking for a bite to eat. 

His parents roost nearby, overseeing his safety and progress in development. 

In this case, a (literal) small family of pigeons roosts at what could be considered some of the most illustrious of locales in Downtown Los Angeles, CA, with beautifully crafted skyscrapers and trendy malls, all within a block, or so. It's a great place to start out, as a Downtown visitor, and these pigeons serve as (sometimes) nightly ambassadors. Take, for example, baby pigeon, standing there, on his own, in the middle of the sidewalk. He's waiting to see some breadcrumbs tossed at him, or perhaps, some pieces of sweet pastries, or seeds. Baby pigeon is currently in the "sweet baby" stage, where the baby has not yet been abused, and hopefully that will last. 

The pigeon family, here at the 7th and Metro Station, has the tradition, and tourist attraction feature of being night owls. This feature about this small and peculiar family of birds makes for a great nighttime stop, to check and see if the birds are out on the sidewalk, or perching nearby the escalators, where they roost at night. A night owl showing of pigeons is always an exciting sort of bird to observe, since they'd become comfortable in socializing amongst their human caretakers, at odd hours. Being that this street intersection is such a well-known metropolitan foot traffic hotspot, this pigeon's roost serves as a testament to urban avian wildlife's potential; as ambassadors: for nature and for recreation, both. 

Future Halloween Costume Aspirations - Chimera Sparrow (via Google AI and Vector Q [imaengine])

 What a concept to bring to the out-doo-doo port-a-potty: doing the best costume ever - here, I assert that, as of 2021, that title couldn’t possibly be aught else than the chimera sparrow, rendered through Vector Q (imaengine), brought to life, thanks to: my choice for local fashion and crafting aspirations: Michael Levine. 

The first run print of the chimera sparrow ex imaengine | Vector Q ex Google AI Chimera Maker Tool

Oops, I guess they’ve shuttered their doors. But I’ll remember the guy, and perhaps I’ll catch him at a future 12 Steps meeting, or something. I spilled milk on his floor, over there, once, but I bought something from there, 3 times. For me, I felt that it was the relatable (for me) fabric store and supplier, of the retail shop sort, within the DTLA fashion district locale. It was cool to see the owner of the brand on the showroom floor on any given workday. 

Where can one catch bird-spotting the chimera sparrow, short of future Halloweens-to-come, of my costume making aspirations to-be (I purchased a $200+ sewing machine, off of Amazon, but I don’t know how to use it, just yet. It’s been sitting pretty, and my chimera sparrow [failed print] is guarding the fashion realm closet micro-space modular portion of my room, as et cie cute as can be). 

My micro-space modular closet features an Epson printer, a many-stitching patterns sewing machine, from Amazon, an aquarium pump au jour eau de (… it’s au jour) aerator and percolator, a black light, a lithium ion batteries bass trap ex large fabric roll ex fashion district DTLA discards haul, a (mostly) Nordstrom set of cold-weather clothes (or, for long-sleeves lovers), crumbs, knick-knacks, and some hummingbird juice. A moth had taken a liking to the stuff, and I don’t mind the moths. Oh, and there’s a chimera sparrow standing guard, off in the back, here.

Anyways, 

I need to learn how to use the sewing machine, and my readers get to be the insiders in to future developments and productivity cycles of iPigeon.institute - to come. 

Where can one view the Pigeons and Friends prints collection? 

I am commonly out at Los Angeles State Historic Park, in the late afternoons and early evenings, and from time to time, I can bring out the prints collection so that passers by can view the prints in person, as I sit and do stuff on my iPad Pro, or something. I can also have small samples of my fragrance creations out, once I finish fixing them, to my satisfaction. 

A super-cute look at the famíly behavior of sparrows at feeding time. (Updated)

I'm still out at the Spring Street end of the Grand Park lawn, although earlier, I had gone out for groceries and cigarettes, both for myself, as well as that I had considered others, of the micro-locale of the tent-city thing|s| going on, around the corner, and on blocks nearby, down by the 101 freeway overpass. 

A male sparrow hopped up, out at me, from the edge of my bags, beside me, and he chirped, assertively. It was super cute how he greeted me. It turned out that I had a half-burrito from outside of Atelier.

Today was cookie and tortilla day for the pigeons.

I cooked some peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie chunks up in the oven at my apartment early this morning. I couldn't sleep last night, and I definitely didn't want to finish an entire two packs of cookie dough. I found the tortillas out on the street this morning.

The birds identified that cookies are particularly tasty, and they pursued an incensed flurry of feathers flapping to get to the inside of the action forming around where the cookies were tossed.

A baby pigeon flaps its wings, early on in the out-of-nest feeding phase of growing up. A very young pigeon will squeak "Bay!! Bee!!" in an attempt to get fed by its elders.

It's oftentimes a competitive duel between the grownups as to how the food gets to one and each other.

Today was a particularly hot competition for food, given the weather, and that it was cookies being tossed at them.

Here, at the Los Angeles Mall, there is a drinking fountain where the birds have established a mid-afternoon (1:45 p.m.) routine. I figure that I might find them here more regularly, if they're not at the park lawn.

In this next photo, Old Ironsides entrusted the food by me on the ground, as I was sitting on a bench; I, perhaps, might some day be able to adopt him and take him in on a more restful place to roost, rather than that he has to use his one-footed leg, the other one cut off at the knee, giving him a limping hard time walking around, which is important for pigeons in their societally-capable lives.