Kayakers Marcus Eriksen, George Wolfe, and Jody Lemmon found this black-necked stilt nest in the middle of the L.A. River last week--on a small piece of board lying in the concrete channel at the grim site where the Arroyo Seco meets the river.

They tell me that a stilt nest graces every piece of debris, every manhole cover, etc. that they saw. If you can't find a sandbar, I guess, then a piece of trash or infrastructure will do just fine.

The stilts in Los Angeles, apparently, treat and understand the L.A. River as a river. The humans are just catching up.

(photos courtesy of www.amphibiousproductions.com)