Bird Watching
Sepulveda Basin is one of the few areas on the Los Angeles River specifically set aside for wildlife. In order to protect the wildlife, dogs are not allowed. This 2.6 mile walk features some of the best and most accessible bird watching in the LA basin, informative interpretational signage, and a quiet green refuge from the bustle of its urban surroundings. Binoculars recommended. It's great any time of year, but in the springtime before the cottonwoods leaf out is best. Some rare and hard to find species occur here, including breeding blue grosbeaks, that have historically been present.
Bette Davis Park is filled with mature sycamore, coast live oak, and old pecan trees that date back to an era when the land had more orchards than houses. The river meets the south side of the park, just west of Victory Boulevard. Walk upstream (that's west) to where the tall willows peter out amid an area of open water dotted with small boulders that create riffles. You'll find ducks here in winter, and a small numbers of shorebirds. Birding is probably best on a quiet weekend morning, before the traffic gets too loud.
Los Feliz Drive - the Glendale Narrows: The once-swampy area still known as Frogtown for the thousands of western toads that lived there, has been drained. And yet, the Glendale Narrows remains surprisingly birdy. Through the walking path located north of the Los Feliz Avenue bridge you can take a long walk north, toward the Colorado Boulevard bridge, and see birds the entire way. Water birds and marsh birds are frequent here. Other birds to watch for in this stretch include the blue-winged and cinnamon teal, American wigeon, ring-necked duck, bufflehead, hooded merganser, osprey, red-tailed and Cooper's hawks, and more.
Willow Street Pool: Water flows around boxy cement baffles and forms a wide pool that filled with birds almost year-round. The bird life of this lower stretch of the river, unlike sites north of downtown LA and in the San Fernando Valley, reflects a greater coastal influence. Overhead, watch for the Caspian tern as it circles in search of for fish, especially above the deep pool south of Willow Street. Species like the American wigeon, northern Pintail, northern shoveler, and all three teal species are a common sight here in winter.
Golden Shore Marine Preserve Coastal: Here birds include the surf scooter, the Western and eared Grebe, and three possible species of loons. In mid-winter, look for the brown pelican, marbled godwit, black oystercatcher, Heermann's gull, and several species of terns -- the elegant in summer, and the Caspian and Forster's in winter. You'll see migrant shorebirds such as semipalmated plover and the long-billed curlew in spring and fall.
Want More? These five locations are just a few of the popular birding spots along the 52-mile length of the LA. River. More await your discovery.
Several pocket parks sit at the end of east of Riverside Drive, on either side of the Glendale (2) Freeway. These offer good access to the west bank of the river at the Glendale Narrows.
- The recently-opened "Rio de Los Angeles State Park" (aka Taylor Yards) along San Fernando Road, separated from the river by an active rail yard, is always worth a stop.
- Farther south, DeForest Park in north Long Beach is one of the premiere places to observe the fall bird migration in the L.A. area. The trees here can be filled with colorful warblers, grosbeaks, and other songbirds during September and October.
- Just downstream, south of Del Amo Boulevard, the Dominguez Gap wetland provides scarce freshwater marsh and scrub habitat along the east bank of the river.
