LADWP is spending a cool $2 million on bird balls to repel birds from Silver Lake and Echo Park Lake. I talk about why this is a bad idea here. Longterm: bad environment, money down the drain, possible health problems, bad practices. Short term is obvious, of course: that it eliminates birds from the whole area, as well as any other animal. I’ve noticed that even on moonlit nights, play nights, it is still totally silent in there, even with new water filling the lake. And remember the missing herons? Taken by Albert Torres, Ranger Griffith Park. Red Tailed Hawk baby. On the other hand, I’ve had issues with the…

I’ve never really understood why blogs feel the necessity to put down the MSM all the time. And locally, that means the Times. Of course, there is a lot that I disagree with, and part of that is their slant, but I still respect it, read it, and enjoy some of it. Gruesome photo of Eight Belles (from AP). One thing they did good on: the recent two part series on horse racing, after the horrifying death of Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby this month. Sports Illustrated wrote: [Eight Belles] crossed the wire 4 3/4 lengths behind favorite Big Brown. Then, with the second-largest crowd in Derby history still…

Be your own Indiana Jones and discover rare species in SoCal parks in a supercool event this weekend: Bioblitz. Anyone can sign up to go out with a scientist or naturalist to hunt for mammals, reptiles, butterflies, moss, ferns, birds, etc, in any park that’s listed! They even have night hunts for owls and bats! It’s apparently organized by National Geographic, and their schedule for Los Angeles and all the parks in this area is here. The word volunteer was confusing to me when I first read about it, and it says you have to sign up 10 days ahead of time, for the event on May 30 and 31.…