Date: 4/13/26 11:00 pm From: David Koeppel via groups.io <davkofilms...> Subject: [LACoBirds] East San Gabriel Mountains preview
While E. Blue Ridge Road in the San Gabriel Mountains remains closed, the section of the Pacific Crest Trail that runs alongside it offers a user-friendly means of accessing the ridge and the wilderness beyond. By parking at the Inspiration Point parking lot on the opposite side of Angeles Crest Highway, I easily walked the half mile to the fire road that, in past springs, has yielded a good mix of upper montane species. Even on a blustery morning cut short by snow flurries, sleet, dense fog, and wind, a flourish of birds that included Hairy Woodpecker, Mountain Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Fox Sparrow, and Spotted Towhee managed to liven up the fire-ravaged bleakness of the surroundings. Amazingly, most of the white firs and about 60% of the Jeffrey pines in the first stand along the fire road withstood the devastation, so I encourage Atlasers living in closer proximity to the San Gabriel Mountains than myself to check back here in May, June, and July. Maybe there is hope for the Nashville Warblers, Flammulated Owls, and other standouts known to have bred in this area.
