This installment of Birds and Brews takes me on one of my regular work trips to Los Angeles, California. On this trip, I had some time to go to one of my favorite birding locations, Playa del Rey, just outside of the Los Angeles International Airport in El Segundo. This site is of interest to traveling birders because the airport is only a mile away. A short cab ride can put you in one of the best birding locations is the area.
To start, I usually drive to Del Rey Lagoon Park and park in the lot. Surprisingly for Los Angeles, parking is free. After you get out, you're standing next to a lagoon that can hold a number of ducks and Western, California, and Heerman's Gulls. Walking past the lagoon you will reach a cement culvert around Ballona Creek. If you walk along the creek, you can go right along the shallow flooded fields along Culver Boulevard for a wide variety of ever-changing shorebirds and waders. Walking to the left will take you to the breakwalls of Marina del Rey and the beach of Playa del Rey. While there may be more gulls and shorebirds such as Sanderling along the beach, the breakwalls are where most of the action seems to be.
While walking down the breakwall surrounding the main river …show more content…
My driver (a coworker) took over control of the rental car and we headed out to El Segundo Brewing Company (ESBC). I had heard about it from a few work associates, so I decided to give it a try. When I first got to the address, I stopped and looked around, trying to find the taproom. It turned out to be a very unassuming building that was right in front of me, though it probably didn't help that the name was obscured by some trees. Upon walking in, I still wasn't sure where to go, but was undeterred. Once I found the taproom in the basement, the fun started. I tried a few beers from the Hyperion Vanilla Stout (one of my favorites) to the Citra Pale, a California
To start, I usually drive to Del Rey Lagoon Park and park in the lot. Surprisingly for Los Angeles, parking is free. After you get out, you're standing next to a lagoon that can hold a number of ducks and Western, California, and Heerman's Gulls. Walking past the lagoon you will reach a cement culvert around Ballona Creek. If you walk along the creek, you can go right along the shallow flooded fields along Culver Boulevard for a wide variety of ever-changing shorebirds and waders. Walking to the left will take you to the breakwalls of Marina del Rey and the beach of Playa del Rey. While there may be more gulls and shorebirds such as Sanderling along the beach, the breakwalls are where most of the action seems to be.
While walking down the breakwall surrounding the main river …show more content…
My driver (a coworker) took over control of the rental car and we headed out to El Segundo Brewing Company (ESBC). I had heard about it from a few work associates, so I decided to give it a try. When I first got to the address, I stopped and looked around, trying to find the taproom. It turned out to be a very unassuming building that was right in front of me, though it probably didn't help that the name was obscured by some trees. Upon walking in, I still wasn't sure where to go, but was undeterred. Once I found the taproom in the basement, the fun started. I tried a few beers from the Hyperion Vanilla Stout (one of my favorites) to the Citra Pale, a California