Exploring the wilds of Los Angeles with bird-watcher Scott Logan

Scott Logan from Wild Wings Backyard Nature, watching birds at Franklin Canyon Park. Photo by Avishay Artsy.

This Saturday, May 2nd marks Bird LA Day – a citywide celebration of all things birds, with nature walks, a bird sketching workshop and a picnic along the LA River. I met up with birding enthusiast Scott Logan at Franklin Canyon Park, located in a beautiful canyon above Beverly Hills, in the eastern part of the Santa Monica Mountains.

“All these birds, they just offer clues. You watch how they fly, what they’re doing, if they’re high, if they’re low, what their silhouette looks like, and with those clues, your brains sort of puts together a puzzle, and that’s how you identify them,” Logan told me. “That’s what’s fun about it. It’s sort of, you’re out on a treasure hunt all the time, and you’re solving this puzzle as you’re walking around.”

Logan is co-owner of Wild Wings Backyard Nature Store in Sherman Oaks, and will be leading a couple of guided walking tours as part of Bird LA Day. You can view the full schedule here, and you can see a map of all the events here.