SoCal: As The Crow Flies
“As the crow flies,” Kathy Jonokuchi reports, “Peter Strauss Ranch is a few miles west … from Paramount Ranch” in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Peter Strauss Ranch was another of the areas burned during last year’s Woolsey Fire and is still closed to the public.
Named after actor Peter Strauss who lived on the ranch, then sold it to the National Park Service. The property been a site for relaxation and recreation for nearly a century.
Triunfo Creek, a seasonal stream on the ranch is home to Western sycamore and coastal live oak, both of which have recovered from the fire, Kathy reports.
California quail, Peter Strauss Ranch, SMMNRA (11/25/19) Kathy Jonokuchi 
Nanday conures, Peter Strauss Ranch, SMMNRA (11/25/19) Kathy Jonokuchi 
Western sycamore, Peter Strauss Ranch, SMMNRA (11/25/19) Kathy Jonokuchi
Fall color there is now past peak, though Nanday conures were feeding on sycamore seed pods and a large flock of California Quail foraged the ground for scattered seeds, beneath the black-hooded parakeets.
Elsewhere in Los Angeles County, Ken Lock found Fremont cottonwood to be peaking along the Big Tujunga River. He noted that while autumn has ended elsewhere in California, several locales in Southern California are still prime.
- Angeles National Forest – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Cottonwood.
