Jan 9, 20232 min read

California Part 3

Today we started my tour of L.A. environs. This was my first time to the area so I might as well see some of the famous sights. This day we drove past Mr. Ed's barn (old TV show), to Garden of the Gods where the Lone Ranger Rock sits, Santa Susana State Historic Park, and to the horses under Saffyre Sanctuary's care.

Garden of the Gods is a 23 acre park that at one time was part of the Iverson Movie Ranch, the site for many westerns including the opening shot of the original Lone Ranger TV series (1949 b&w; 1956 color). Beginning in 1912, the ranch was used for depicting Asia, Africa, the South Seas, and westerns in thousands of films. It's also the site of the historical old stage coach route. Most of the ranch has been developed into residential areas, including being bisected by the 118 freeway.

The views are beautiful and I was able to watch Oak titmouse gleaning in the shrubbery, along with other birds in the area. There's a great view of Stony Point from here, a 65 million year old sandstone rock formation that rises alone above Chatsworth California. The rock was originally gray but years of oxidation have given it an orange coloration. The movements of the North American and Pacific plates colliding over millions of years deposited it here.

Off to the 680 acre Santa Susana State Historic Park, another fascinating place of both cultural and natural history. The park is at the juncture of the Simi Hills and the Santa Susana Mountains. More sandstone outcrops, part of the same formation as Stony Point. The variety of soils and presence of water has created a diversity of habitats and vegetation here, attracting lots of birds. Of course, this park has also been used as a background for many films and TV including the Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers. Hollywood is everywhere down here!

The Chumash and Tongva, and to the north the Tataviam, people lived here. Later, parts of the original Butterfield Overland Stage Route, as well as, the Wells Fargo & Company travelled between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara through this area.

Later we headed to visit the horses under Saffyre Sanctuary's care. Audrey's horse, Cloud, is truly just a big golden retriever. He's so personable and friendly. It was so fun to hand feed him- it tickled! I'm used to cats and dogs, not horses so I love any opportunity to be around the energy of horses. Saffyre Sanctuary rescues abused horses and have only a few at this time. A worthy organization to support.

I took my binoculars with me so I could check out the different birds that reside in southern California. I missed many since this wasn't a strictly birding trip. I still got to hear or see many species that are not around where I live. The bird list for the week included:

Brandt's cormorant American wigeons

Mallards Bufflehead

Vesper sparrow Snowy egret

Canada geese Western gull

Red-tailed hawk Hermann's gull

Cassin's kingbird Northern mockingbird

Dark-eyed junco Lesser goldfinch

American goldfinch White-crowned sparrow

Turkey vulture California thrasher

Bushtits Ravens

Crows Black phoebe

Oak titmouse towhee- not sure because heard