Lake Balboa--it's in L.A....ever heard of it? Me neither...

A tip from a friend led me to photograph at Lake Balboa Park, renamed Anthony C. Beilenson Park in 1998 in tribute to Anthony Charles "Tony" Beilenson, a former Democratic Congressman from Southern California who served ten terms in the United States House of Representatives, from 1977 to 1997. The park  is an 80-acre water recreation facility, with the 27-acre Balboa Lake at its center.  This artificial lake is supplied with reclaimed water from the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant.

You sure we're in the right place??

Ya, I was wondering the same thing...

Lake Balboa is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California.  The 2000 U.S. census counted 24,328 residents in the 3.13-square-mile Lake Balboa neighborhood  Lake Balboa is flanked on the north by Northridge, on the east by Van Nuys, on the south by the Sepulveda Basin and on the west by Reseda.

In the short time that I was there, I discovered quite a diversity of bird life, and was treated to quite a feeding display by a cormorant “choking” down a rather large suckermouth catfish!  It took several minutes for the cormorant to grip and position the fish just right in order to swallow it without the interference of the fins.  

In addition, there were geese, great egrets, great blue herons, and hawks…

This Great-tailed grackle was a rather curious fellow as I went by...

All of this action was observed in less than a two hour walk around the lake…thanks for taking a virtual walk with me…

To see my full collection of images from this day's shoot, visit my website gallery at:  http://www.costamesaphotography.com/California/SouthernCalifornia/Lake-Balboa-Beilenson-Park/