Urban Wildlife of Los Angeles

– a photographic magazine –

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An Egret in Beverly Hills Pt. 1

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This egret has taken up residence at the duck pond in Will Rogers Park, on Sunset Blvd, in Beverly Hills.

The egret has free reign of the pond – it walks past ducks, humans walk past it – as it hunts the tiny fish in the pond.

Ants and Ladybugs

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Aphids like hibiscus bushes – ladybugs like aphids – and ants like to explore everything in LA – even the walls inside ur home.

In this photo, an ant on top of the leaf, an aphid directly under the ant, and a ladybug underneath share the tip of a hibiscus leaf.

The ladybugs don’t move around very much.

The ants are always on the move, exploring every twig and leaf.

When the ants and ladybug do meet, the ants are the aggressors, and the ladybugs turtle untill the ants leave.

The ladybug always has the final say – when too many ants show up, it flys awaay!.

Wings Outstretched

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I’m pretty sure that all of these photographs are of Black Phoebes as they hunt insects.

The two photos above were taken at the LaBrea Tar Pits, Pit #1 – visible from Wilshire Blvd.

This photograph was taken in Beverly Hills, on Santa Monica Blvd – at a a temporary fence erected to protect the outdoor artwork, thru these turbulent times.

This photograph was one of the first photographs I shot. I was frozen in my tracks as this bird flew so fast, so gracefully so close to so much hard concrete!

Bees on Pink Knotweed

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There’s a parking lot for a private school near my apartment. One year, these beautiful Pink Knotweed flowers thrived in an unkept area.

I’ve gone back many times, but have never seen these beautiful flowers and the bees, again.

About My Photo Safaris

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To capture my photographs I go on one of three types of adventures in Los Angeles, I call Photo Safari’s. I stay in my apartment’s courtyard or on it’s front lawn – this is where I get 90% of my insect and hummingbird photos.

I walk within my neighborhood and adjacent neighborhoods, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Hollywood, sometimes on a specific path, sometimes wondering without thought. I have a walking radius of about 10 blocks. If I walk farther then that, I have to take a bus home.

I go to specific places using mass transit – Santa Monica Beach, Downtown LA, Griffith Observatory

About My Equipment

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I have a Sony a6500 Mirrorless camera, an 85 mm Marco lens and a 24-240mm Zoom lens. I’m not a “gear-head”, that’s all of the photography equipment I own.

I chose that camera for three reasons; 

  • 1) it is small and light, I can easily carry it all day…
  • 2) It has an APC size sensor, which is pretty close to full-size…
  • 3) It’s a Sony – I’ve never been disappointed in any Sony product I’ve ever bought, yes, it’s expensive – but, as dad would say, “you get what u pay for”

I chose the Sony 90mm Macro lens for photographing insects. When used with the APC sensor, it’s equivalent  to a 105mm lens on a full-size sensor – that’s plenty of strength to pull insects as small as an ant.

 

I chose the Sony 24-240mm zoom for any insect the size of a large bee –  to small animals such as humming birds and lizard – on up to squirrels medium to large birds. 

The Sony 24-240mm Zoom was the only purchase I regret. I should have bought the 100-400 Sony Zoom lens. the one I bought is just not powerful enough to capture what I see. It’s useful, and I’m happy that I have it – it works great, it is a Sony – but, it’s just not strong enough to capture what I see – chest la vie.