"During the early 1870s, stagecoach robber/horse-and-cattle thief Tiburcio Vasquez and his gang hid out in the Chilao country. The stolen horses were pastured in secluded grassland we now call Horse Flats. Vasquez, last of a generation of bandits to operate out of the Southern California backcountry, was captured in 1874.
...
As the story goes, one of Vasquez's men, Jose Gonzales, lived in a log cabin in the area where the visitor center now stands. Gonzales guarded the hide-out and horses. His battle with a huge bear, which he killed using only a knife, earned him the name Chillia--roughly translated as hot stuff. The name evolved into Chilao.

Located just off Angeles Crest Highway near the trailhead, the Angeles National Forest Chilao Visitor Center is well worth a visit. Exhibits interpret flora, fauna and forest history. Behind the station is a short nature trail. "

JOHN McKINNEY

Tags:   Angeles National Forest Angeles Crest Highway chilao pygmy nuthatch nuthatch southern california birds Bird watching Bird watching Los Angeles Lightroom lind Friendship Fugl Canon Camaraderie 80D canon 80 D 100-400 Dark-eyed Junco junco fallen log monkey forest monkey Sitta pygmaea petite sittelle Sittelle pygmée one year ago adventure area recovering from fire prayers for those in danger mountain monkey Pleistocene bird Vogel zwergklieber saltapalos enano

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"The Station Fire (2009) was started by an arsonist in the Angeles National Forest, north of Los Angeles. It was the largest fire in Los Angeles County’s recorded history, burning a total of 161,189 acres – or nearly 252 square miles. " The White headed Woodpecker "...prefers to dwell in burned or cut forests where residual, large-diameter live and dead trees prevail; they require the tall, living trees as much as the burned ones. " Jerry and I have hiked Angeles Crest a lot over the years. I don't remember seeing or hearing these wonderful birds. After the fire the area was stark, bleak, and blackened. I had a big lump in my throat looking at the damage done by the fire. On this trip it looked greener.
ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27912635

Tags:   station fire chilao visitor's center white headed woodpecker woodpecker pekabo90401 Bird watching Birdwatching Los Angeles southern california birds SX-60 canon canon SX 60 friendship Camaraderie lightroom bird bath bird feeder Angeles National Forest Pic à tête blanche Carpintero cabeza blanca Picoides albolarvatus angeles crest chilao lifer lifer bird thank you Jerry San Gabriel Mountains Angeles Crest Highway adventure los angeles local adventure borrowed camera

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We were hiking in the local mountains when we heard the familiar "bouncing ball" call.
Wrentit!
From what I've read their closest relative might be the Parrotbill. A pretty cool little group. But hardly tidy. Some have cute dainty faces and some look like they were standing behind the door when looks were passed out. And how did they get here? With the Asians that crossed the Bering Strait in the Pleistocene Period? These Early Americans could walk in. But what if you could fly?
Why leave their previous home and move to LA? Well it wasn't LA back then and who knows what was happening at home. But let's say they had a good reason to find new territory. "It diverged from it's ancestors between 6.5 and 8.1 million years ago."http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/parrotbills.html
So their ancestors braved the challenges of weather and geography. Left home and boldly went without a built in star migration map. Where was the shelter? Where was a reliable source of water and food?
Our strictly local dino descendants. Spooky eye. Comb-over belly feathers. Long legs and tail.

Tags:   Chamaea fasciata Cama brune Camea wrentit fossils Pleistocene bird pekabo90401 camaraderie friendship birds of southern california lightroom 80-D 100-400 canon canon 80-D mountain monkey chilao san gabriel mountains angeles crest 鳥 鸟 fugl lind oiseau ibon πουλί 새 avem manu پرنده птица chim นก Bird watching Bird watching Los Angeles singing bird Non-migratory bird

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This is an interesting bird.... but for now I will just give you a little information about our location. It is a real treat to go up to Chilao.
"Today, a motorist can traverse 66 miles of some of the most difficult terrain in the U.S. in under two hours...The ease of the drive belies the difficulty of the highway’s construction, which began in 1929 and continued for 27 years under the direction of the California Department of Highways (now Caltrans) and the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads (now the Federal Highway Administration).
...Where nature failed to provide a way, workers created one, blasting roadcuts into granite and erecting bridges over drainages. Some cuts are as deep as 240 feet. In the high country near Islip Saddle, the highway tunnels twice through the mountainside. It achieves its highest elevation, 7,901 feet, at Dawson Saddle."
www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/angeles-crest-the-creation-of-...

Tags:   Angeles Crest Highway Angeles National Forest san gabriel mountains Dark-eyed Junco junco oregon junco Junco hyemalis Junco ardoisé Junco ojo oscuro 洪科 준코 ジュンコ Юнко Bird watching Bird watching Los Angeles southern california birds 80D canon 80 D Canon Camaraderie Friendship holiday card Lightroom bird 鳥 鸟 Branch monkey mountain monkey Fugl lind oiseau chim πουλί ibon 새 پرنده avem manu птица นก chilao 100-400 pekabo90401

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What is pink and hunts like a treetop flycatcher?
They look and behave differently from our Acorn and Nuttall's Woodpeckers. It has me doubting that they are woodpeckers at all. I think I'll take this up with the experts at the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology. (AKA dead bird museum) www.wfvz.org/index.php

Tags:   Lou Orr believes the bird was named for him Pic de Lewis Carpintero de Lewis Melanerpes lewis Specht 啄木鸟 Pivert キツツキ δρυοκολάπτης 딱따구리 te tipu rakau дятел pájaro carpintero นกหัวขวาน Angeles Crest Highway chilao treetop monkey Wesen southern california birds Canon Camaraderie 80D canon 80 D 100-400 Lightroom Bird watching Bird watching Los Angeles Friendship woodpecker Lewis's woodpecker Los Angeles day trip pink woodpecker pink 鳥 鸟 fugl lind oiseau Angeles National Forest ibon πουλί 새 avem manu پرنده птица chim นก دندانه دار

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