A Towhee Poses for a Picture

Pipilo crissalis 

Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve

Los Angeles County, California

March 28th, 2010

This little California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis) posed for a few pictures on a recent birding trip to the Selpulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve. This trip will be memorable because it was the first trip I took with my wife. She was great for her first time out, she often spotted unique birds before I did, and she makes a great companion. Hopefully, she will join me on future outings as I had a great time with her. 

The California Towhee is a common bird of the chaparral and scrublands of California and Southern Oregon. They are uniformly brown, with a reddish brown eye-ring and under-tail coverts. They essentially look like a big brown sparrow. They tend to live in the dense shrubs along coastal slopes and foothills, but they are also resident visitors of backyards and city parks. One interesting bit of information on this towhee is that they often make their nests in poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) and feed on the plants berries. 

Basking in the Sun

Sceloporus occidentalis

Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve

Los Angeles County, California

March 20th, 2010

I found this little western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) basking in the sun during a recent outing to the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve. He was nice enough to sit and pose for a few pictures before scrambling out of sight into the undergrowth. These are one of my favorite native reptiles, and I love to watch them and capture them on film.

Not only are the western fence lizards beautiful to look at and fun to watch, they are beneficial to the ecosystem as well. In areas with a population of western fence lizards, the incidence of Lyme Disease is significantly lower than in areas without these little reptiles. Apparently the lizard's blood contains a protein which kills the spirochete bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi that causes Lyme Disease. 

The Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve is located just North of the 101 Freeway and West of the 405 Freeway. The  225 acre park is home to a wide variety of wildlife including California ground squirrels, cottontails, coyotes, California red-legged frogs, Pacific treefrogs, western fence lizards, side-blotched lizards, and over 200 visiting (migrating) and resident species of birds. There is a path that winds through the reserve with several viewing areas that overlook the lake. When visiting please stay on the path and leave your pets at home. The native scrub land is beautiful, but can also be fragile if not taken care of.