I see them in the morning sometimes, maybe once every couple of months. A flock of wedding/funeral doves who seem to have survived their release into the wilds of urban L.A. Big white pigeons. They swoop in formation over the Glendale Freeway near the Verdugo exit in Eagle Rock/Glassell Park.

According to a commercial dove-release company's website, these tame birds "are a symbol of love forever, good luck, and a path to heaven." For humans. The birds themselves are rarely so lucky.

A few years ago, I saw a large number of white doves "released" at the dedication of Leo Politi Square in Echo Park. A large number of them were afraid to leave their cages. And after they were forced out they didn't fly away -- they simply flew to the nearest place above human reach, and most of them stayed put, bewildered. For weeks after, an ever dwindling number of these abandoned domestic birds could be approached at Echo Park Lake. They lacked the street smarts of successful urban wildlife. The lake birds were tame and vulnerable. It's been a very long time since I've seen any at EP Lake.

But who knows? Maybe the most able of the Politi doves got together and went to the freeway overpass near Verdugo, where they swooped and gathered this morning. They're always a treat for the eye. And nice to know they're alive and keeping company.