Pigeon-watching hotspots to see around town #5: The USC Dumpster Pigeons.

 This flock of pigeons hadn't always lived here, which is curious, because I could trace back to days of pigeon-feeding that I'd done, where I knew this localized flock of birds, from somewhere else, namely, The Hoover Recreation Center and Public Park. At some point, however, I suppose that the birds possibly were mistreated, or, for some other reason, they found greener pastures - here, at a transit thoroughfare peninsula parking lot, to be succinct. I call them: the USC Dumpster Pigeons, since the spot is within the University's grounds, more or less. 

The USC Dumpster Pigeons (left), alongside the famous dumpsters of the place.

This flock, although slightly out of bounds of Downtown Los Angeles (I figured that these flocks hotspots would perhaps, someday, become more well-populated with people, as well as pigeon watching and feeding sites, along the lines of a tourist day time attraction, which would, in effect, encompass a series of viewing locations, in sequence), is one that I'd known, practically back to the beginning of my pigeon-feeding and pigeon-blogging ventures, which had started around the summer of 2017, at which point, I had decided to try and participate in Tumblr's Inktober annual illustration blog bash and celebration; me, starting out with an ink brush, and some drawing paper.

This flock, itself, is rather charming, in their naivete, being that there's so many young ones, and, for the most part, their daily fare is tack bread crumbs, thrown out, by one of the businesses (I guess that the fact that they are given regular regard, of any sort, by the neighboring businesses, is appreciable). This flock is eager to nibble and munch on some tastier far; soggy fare, as I'd have it, for them, since there's no water source, nearby. 

The USC Dumpster Pigeons, eager to have a tasty, fresh meal served to them, with the thoroughfare parkway in the background. 

The USC Dumpster Pigeons are sort of "young" acting, I'd say. I'm not sure what had happened to them, to see them migrate out here; perhaps it was lack of care, or mistreatment, in which case, perhaps some adults were lost, from the flock.

I had some aspirations to landscape the nearby thoroughfare parkway, since it's currently just weedy grass and hay, with some drought-tolerant freeway-adjacent plants. I'm currently (late May, 2024), sprouting some seedlings, ostensibly to carry out that task, for this growing season (it's a really humbling thing to consider, but there's more rewards in it, if the project is seen through, in this way, and the whole block of parkway could be adopted, and seem regular, as landscaped parkway, at some point, I figure).

The major highlights and takeaways of this flock are that they're so set on taking the first bites of food, over each other, that they're nearly willing to be picked up, and held, by the caretaker / feeder, which is relatively rare. I'd suppose that, since this flock is somewhat remote from other flocks, there's less of the large-scale socialization establishments of fear and timidity that is seen in the DTLA-proper flocks. 

Some notes on this flock: the parking lot is situated east of Figueroa, on Adams, and west of the 23rd Street / Orthopedic Institute for Children Metro Expo E Line Train Station, although the birds are also sometimes found at the 23rd Street at Figueroa gravel peninsula and bus stop / 110 Freeway overpass. 

Pigeon-watching hotspots to see around town #4: Downtown Los Angeles' Inner-City Window Ledges.

I had just recently moved in to new housing, after so many spats of housing that was, unfortunately, in various ways, hostile, unprofessional, or outright unfriendly and discriminatory in nature, at times. This being the case, I'd oftentimes move out, or I'd be ordered to move out, which happens to be a legal premise (it's called a self-help eviction, when there'd been no paperwork filed for eviction). 

In any case, now, in the spring time of 2024, I'm housed somewhere I can really appreciate: they serve three meals a day, and they're fairly relaxed about any sense of micro-managing tenants and their belongings (my belongings, in other words). The security of the home is well-done, and I can let up off of many stressful burdens of my material possessions having formerly been at risk, on a constant basis. The charm of the place is akin to movies that most of us had grown up seeing, which depict inner-city lifestyles - for example, windows that face each other, with an apiary center space, between the facing rooms of the building (I have a view, from my window, though). The windows thing became a curious point of focus for me, when I encountered a new pigeon friend, while at the restroom. I call him "Sleepy Pigeon."

Sleepy Pigeon typically shows up, across from the restroom, where he perches, for the afternoon, or evening. Here, he finds peaceful rest, and, since I met him, he also gets fed here, at the window.

The spot is apparently a social magnet for other pigeons, once they find out that food's being served at the window. Take a look at what happens when the other birds show up. 

A crowd of pigeons flocks to the window on my side of the building, since they'd discovered that there's food here, sometimes. 

On top of that, there's also a similar ledge, outside my window, and there's a pigeon that shows up there, as well (I can't show the photos, in this case, for privacy reasons). 

This paradigm of pigeon perching and resting places really gave me an impression of that this style of living is how these urban environment pigeons situate themselves - I'd not been sure, previously, all this time, as to where the birds go, at night, in general. It was almost like a Hollywood movie moment for me, in fact, especially since it featured pigeons ☺️. That aspect really did it for me. In a different sense, it really makes the place feel like home, for me, and since I'm housed in downtown LA, now, it's like I'd come full circle (I used to rent a loft, out in DTLA, back in 2010-2012; then I became homeless, after some acute psychiatric emergencies, amidst a failing tech services business that I was running).

Perhaps, if folks happen to show up in town, on a touristy basis, they might, also, find some lodging that features a pigeon friend, just outside the window.