What to Know
- Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia
- The 127-acre garden is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2023
- Synonymous with peacocks, the sylvan spot is also known as a favorite nesting location for a bevy of regional birds, including the occasional great-horned owl
The notion of an urban forest can, at first, seem a little too good to be true.
But picturesque forested areas, including those places that have been cultivated over time, do lend a certain lushness to Los Angeles County, with the leafy spaces attracting all sorts of animals, including some critters that may surprise.
That happened at Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in early November 2022, when a mother bear and two cubs bounded through the Arcadia idyll.
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Of course, bears are very rare inside the garden, but birds are not, as any peacock-fancying person can tell you.
The elaborately tail-feathered favorites strut around the garden's walkways with regal regularity, but if you pause and turn an ear to the trees, which are plentiful around the property, you may hear some soft... hoots.
For great-horned owls are occasional residents of the 127-acre garden, which won't surprise people who live around the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley, where the beautiful birds of prey are often heard even if they're infrequently seen.
But a few feathery locals were spied in the garden recently, by LA Arboretum member Ajit Deokar, who took a heartwarming photograph of a mother great-horned owl and a pair of fluffy owlets in their Australian Garden nest, which sits high in a eucalyptus tree.
The exact location of the nest hasn't been shared, to give these youngsters plenty of privacy.
Or should we say owl-lot of privacy. (We're already regretting it, but not enough to go back and delete.)
Two owlets appear in the striking photo, which was snapped in early March, though the Arboretum shared that visiting birders think there may be three babies. (The garden is a popular spot to go birding, especially in the late winter and springtime when baby birds may be in full chirp.)
Also interesting to know?
There seems to be a single owl family living at the property this spring, per the Arboretum team. In 2022, owls were spied at Tallac Knoll, which boasts a stunning mountain view.
Barnyard owls have also been seen around the arboretum.
LA Arboretum is open daily, and several fruit trees are showing their blossom-y best as we reach the middle of March.
For what's blooming, info on the peacocks, and the other plentiful gifts of nature to be found around this Arcadian treasure, flap your wings and sail over this site now.
