Change comes in red paint. We awoke this morning to the sound of trucks and drilling into concrete. City workers were putting in three-way stop signs at our "T" intersection.
Traffic at our blind three-way corner has always been bad. Will these stop signs help? I hope so. Will there be noticeable changes in the traffic pattern? Will cars slowing to a stop right in front of our house have an effect on the wild things that frequent the yard? I don't know. It will be interesting to watch.
Spring is definitely here. The ornamental plum tree has burst into bloom and the house finches are munching on the flowers even while the workers paint the curb scarlet.
There are two hummingbird nests in the yard. The Allen's hummingbird nest has two eggs, the other should have eggs soon. Pictures? I'll have to take a few. Happy Spring.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Great Backyard Bird Count - L.A. Zoo
This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count !
Across North America, citizens are playing a vital role for science by counting wild birds like this California towhee.
Why is this important?
Bird counts turned in to the Great Backyard Bird Count website will create a snapshot of bird populations across the continent.
The Great Backyard Bird Count continues Feb. 15 -18.
You can participate by counting birds in your backyard, on a walk through your neighborhood, in a local park or wildlife area. See the website http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/ for easy instructions. Be a Citizen Scientist and help count birds in your area.
When and where are birds nesting? If you have a nest that you are watching, NestWatch wants YOU ! You can enter your information about a bird nest at www.nestwatch.org.
This morning Docents and Zoo members at the Los Angeles Zoo counted 42 species of wild birds on the Zoo grounds for Great Backyard Bird Count and spotted an Anna's hummingbird already nesting, as well as red-shouldered hawks and black phoebe's preparing nests. (hummingbird nest 2007)
Bird List from Los Angeles Zoo, 2/16/08
- Mallard - 18
- Great Egret - 1
- Turkey Vulture - 2
- Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
- Cooper's Hawk - 1
- Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
- Red-tailed Hawk - 3
- Ring-billed Gull - 1
- Band-tailed Pigeon - 2
- Mourning Dove - 4
- Yellow-chevroned Parakeet - 6
- Anna's Hummingbird - 4
- Allen's Hummingbird - 4
- Acorn Woodpecker - 1
- Red-breasted Sapsucker - 1
- Nuttall's Woodpecker - 2
- Black Phoebe - 6
- Cassin's Kingbird - 2
- Common Raven - 4
- Bushtit - 8
- Bewick's Wren - 1
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
- Hermit Thrush - 3
- Swainson's Thrush -1
- American Robin - 6
- Northern Mockingbird - 2
- European Starling - 10
- Cedar Waxwing - 30
- Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) - 8
- Spotted Towhee - 1
- California Towhee - 6
- Fox Sparrow (Sooty) - 2
- Song Sparrow - 19
- Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
- White-crowned Sparrow - 4
- Dark-eyed Junco - 7
- Red-winged Blackbird - 30
- Brewer's Blackbird - 45
- House Finch - 45
- Lesser Goldfinch - 25
- American Goldfinch - 12
- House Sparrow - 4
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Holding a Band-tailed Pigeon
This beautiful February morning dawned with clear blue skies, warm sun filtering through leafless elm branches and a variety of birds chatting at the bird feeder. I took an hour this morning to prune back some shrubs and reconnect with earth and reality. Too many hours have been spent lately sitting at my desk churning out words for the sake of academia.
When Michael and I were done snipping and trimming, the lavatera and the Lady Banks rose were once again contained and no longer trying to engulf the bird feeders. The area was open and sunlight streamed in.
The house finches and mourning doves took advantage of improved sightlines and swarmed the feeders. A large shadow swooped over Michael and he said, “Was that a hawk?”
“No, just a young band-tail.”
The family of band-tailed pigeons were arriving in a second feeding wave. As we went into the house, the five large birds vocally jostled for the four positions at the feeder.
Then suddenly birds exploded out of the yard, flying out over the house. Doves, finches, and band-tailed pigeons fanned out over the neighborhood with a Cooper’s hawk in quick pursuit. The Cooper’s hawk dove. It hit a bird a few feet from the neighbor’s house. There was a loud SMACK. Wings and feathers swirling in struggle. The hawk flew up into a sapling tree. The neighbor come running out of the house. The Cooper’s hawk retreated to the peak of the garage, watching anxiously. Tentatively, it flew up into a nearby tree.
I watched this all from the window. When the neighbor started across the street toward our house, I knew that a Nature Intermediary was needed.
The fleeing prey bird had hit the neighbors window. The hawk and its intended brunch had tussled, right in front of her. The injured prey had momentarily escaped and was cowering in her front yard. What the neighbor didn’t know, was the hawk was sitting just above us in the tree, frustrated. I explained to the startled human what had happened and knelt down to see the same young band-tailed pigeon that had been feasting in the backyard, pressed against the side of the house.
There was blood in its beak, but it was able to fly a short distance. I took off my shirt , covered its head and scooped it up in my hands.
This is the role I play for my neighbors, accessing the damage after a pet dog had grabbed a wild rabbit, cautioning about the timing of trimming a tree because of the red-shouldered hawk nest with hawklets, identifying native plants, and clarifying that the canine loping down the street is not a dog, but a coyote. Now I was pointing at the Cooper’s hawk and explaining that the hawks that circle over our little intersection aren’t someone’s pet birds, they are wild creatures hunting for food.
As I look out at the houses of my immediate neighbors, the reality is, of the twelve adults in these six houses, only four of us grew up here in California–four are foreign born and four are from other parts of the United States. The picture of what California was before our population doubled and tripled, is a memory that resides in fewer and fewer of us all the time. And even many native Californians are removed from the place itself. Few truly notice that the hawk numbers have grown dramatically since the banning of DDT in the 1970s.
I took the stunned, yearling band-tail pigeon, home. I found a quiet, familiar spot in the backyard, near the bird feeder where a half hour before she had stuffed herself with food. She was just starting to get her adult feathers. It was probably a combination of being weighed down with a full crop and molting some of her flight feathers that had made her just a bit more vulnerable than the other members of her family.
There was a lively glint in her eyes and at first I thought my initial assessment had been wrong. Maybe she wasn’t as injured as I suspected. As we sat beneath the elm tree, I contemplated whether she might be able to sit on a tree branch. Then the glint of life fluttered. Breaths became short and shallow. The young flame of life tried to hold on, but quietly it faded. In a quiet, still moment the spark within the gray warm body went out.
I held her until the warmth of her began to cool. This gentle piece of who I am, this calm peace with the earth; no good, no bad, just the cyclical nature of life. If everyone would just slow down, open their hearts and live such a moment, it would make us better members of the biosphere that is the earth.
Life can be difficult, unpredictable and fleeting.
When Michael and I were done snipping and trimming, the lavatera and the Lady Banks rose were once again contained and no longer trying to engulf the bird feeders. The area was open and sunlight streamed in.
The house finches and mourning doves took advantage of improved sightlines and swarmed the feeders. A large shadow swooped over Michael and he said, “Was that a hawk?”
“No, just a young band-tail.”
The family of band-tailed pigeons were arriving in a second feeding wave. As we went into the house, the five large birds vocally jostled for the four positions at the feeder.
Then suddenly birds exploded out of the yard, flying out over the house. Doves, finches, and band-tailed pigeons fanned out over the neighborhood with a Cooper’s hawk in quick pursuit. The Cooper’s hawk dove. It hit a bird a few feet from the neighbor’s house. There was a loud SMACK. Wings and feathers swirling in struggle. The hawk flew up into a sapling tree. The neighbor come running out of the house. The Cooper’s hawk retreated to the peak of the garage, watching anxiously. Tentatively, it flew up into a nearby tree.
I watched this all from the window. When the neighbor started across the street toward our house, I knew that a Nature Intermediary was needed.
The fleeing prey bird had hit the neighbors window. The hawk and its intended brunch had tussled, right in front of her. The injured prey had momentarily escaped and was cowering in her front yard. What the neighbor didn’t know, was the hawk was sitting just above us in the tree, frustrated. I explained to the startled human what had happened and knelt down to see the same young band-tailed pigeon that had been feasting in the backyard, pressed against the side of the house.
There was blood in its beak, but it was able to fly a short distance. I took off my shirt , covered its head and scooped it up in my hands.
This is the role I play for my neighbors, accessing the damage after a pet dog had grabbed a wild rabbit, cautioning about the timing of trimming a tree because of the red-shouldered hawk nest with hawklets, identifying native plants, and clarifying that the canine loping down the street is not a dog, but a coyote. Now I was pointing at the Cooper’s hawk and explaining that the hawks that circle over our little intersection aren’t someone’s pet birds, they are wild creatures hunting for food.
As I look out at the houses of my immediate neighbors, the reality is, of the twelve adults in these six houses, only four of us grew up here in California–four are foreign born and four are from other parts of the United States. The picture of what California was before our population doubled and tripled, is a memory that resides in fewer and fewer of us all the time. And even many native Californians are removed from the place itself. Few truly notice that the hawk numbers have grown dramatically since the banning of DDT in the 1970s.
I took the stunned, yearling band-tail pigeon, home. I found a quiet, familiar spot in the backyard, near the bird feeder where a half hour before she had stuffed herself with food. She was just starting to get her adult feathers. It was probably a combination of being weighed down with a full crop and molting some of her flight feathers that had made her just a bit more vulnerable than the other members of her family.
There was a lively glint in her eyes and at first I thought my initial assessment had been wrong. Maybe she wasn’t as injured as I suspected. As we sat beneath the elm tree, I contemplated whether she might be able to sit on a tree branch. Then the glint of life fluttered. Breaths became short and shallow. The young flame of life tried to hold on, but quietly it faded. In a quiet, still moment the spark within the gray warm body went out.
I held her until the warmth of her began to cool. This gentle piece of who I am, this calm peace with the earth; no good, no bad, just the cyclical nature of life. If everyone would just slow down, open their hearts and live such a moment, it would make us better members of the biosphere that is the earth.
Life can be difficult, unpredictable and fleeting.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Winter in California
Did I hear somebody say that we don’t have seasons in Southern California?
All right, we don’t experience days of freezing rain, but the main route into Los Angeles from the Central Valley and the Northern part of the country is closed because of snow. I stand at the base of the surrounding mountains and watch their rolling summits begin to shiver white. The air smells crisp with snow.
No, we don’t have subzero winds blowing off an icy lake, but soaking rains are making the hillsides soggy and unstable. Rain licks the trunks of oak trees and kisses the roots of the toyon–the “holly wood” for which Hollywood is named. Liquidy breath coaxes seeds that were liberated by fall fires and spread by Santana winds to burst forth in a green carpet of midwinter life.
It’s true the gray fist of winter never truly tightens, but it is winter here. It is just a different kind of winter than they feel in New York or North Dakota. This winter brings renewal. It sings in a loud wind-lashing voice. It flows down hillsides at flash flood speed and challenges the muddy slope to follow. This winter is a trickster; soft rain falling like a veil of mist lit by golden sunlight. Warm days chased by icy nights.
Summer is our extreme, our time of death.
California winter, embrace it for what it is–erratic changer of the land, unfettered rush of water, sprouter of the future.
California Autumn
Creatures of Summer
All right, we don’t experience days of freezing rain, but the main route into Los Angeles from the Central Valley and the Northern part of the country is closed because of snow. I stand at the base of the surrounding mountains and watch their rolling summits begin to shiver white. The air smells crisp with snow.
No, we don’t have subzero winds blowing off an icy lake, but soaking rains are making the hillsides soggy and unstable. Rain licks the trunks of oak trees and kisses the roots of the toyon–the “holly wood” for which Hollywood is named. Liquidy breath coaxes seeds that were liberated by fall fires and spread by Santana winds to burst forth in a green carpet of midwinter life.
It’s true the gray fist of winter never truly tightens, but it is winter here. It is just a different kind of winter than they feel in New York or North Dakota. This winter brings renewal. It sings in a loud wind-lashing voice. It flows down hillsides at flash flood speed and challenges the muddy slope to follow. This winter is a trickster; soft rain falling like a veil of mist lit by golden sunlight. Warm days chased by icy nights.
Summer is our extreme, our time of death.
California winter, embrace it for what it is–erratic changer of the land, unfettered rush of water, sprouter of the future.
California Autumn
Creatures of Summer
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Helping the Island Fox
Do you find yourself overwhelmed by the negative news about the world we live in? I know I sometimes do.
Helping to preserve diminishing rainforest in South America, saving great apes from the bushmeat crisis and even polar bears that are being threatened by global warming, can all seem distant and unsurmountable problems. We can give money, but do we personally see the difference that we have made?
I just finished writing up a website entry for Friends of the Island Fox at islandfox.org about riding along with biologist Julie King of the Catalina Island Conservancy as she did health checks on endangered island foxes. How did I get this great opportunity?
Three years ago a close friend asked me to join her on the board of a conservation organization working to save a local endangered species, the island fox. Friends of the Island Fox, Inc. works to save a local Southern California species that is found only on the Channel Islands.
In the past 2 years we have:
Yes. People are becoming aware of this native Californian and reaching out to help the island fox. Across the four islands where the island fox is endangered, population numbers are increasing. All of the land managers on the Channel Islands are seeing greater support for their efforts.
Check out the Friends of the Island Fox website.
If you are interested in getting involved and making a difference, we need volunteers to help with classroom visits and manning booths at educational events. If you have a skill that you are willing to share, let us know at islandfoxnews@gmail.com
If you know a school, class, youth or adult community group that would be interested in learning about the island fox, drop me an e-mail at islandfoxnews@gmail.com and we will set it up.
You can make a difference and the best place to start is by helping a neighbor.
Helping to preserve diminishing rainforest in South America, saving great apes from the bushmeat crisis and even polar bears that are being threatened by global warming, can all seem distant and unsurmountable problems. We can give money, but do we personally see the difference that we have made?
I just finished writing up a website entry for Friends of the Island Fox at islandfox.org about riding along with biologist Julie King of the Catalina Island Conservancy as she did health checks on endangered island foxes. How did I get this great opportunity?Three years ago a close friend asked me to join her on the board of a conservation organization working to save a local endangered species, the island fox. Friends of the Island Fox, Inc. works to save a local Southern California species that is found only on the Channel Islands.
In the past 2 years we have:
- raised funds to provide 17 radio tracking collars for island foxes to be returned to the wild.
- created school outreach programs and an Island Fox Ambassador Program that helps kids become active in saving this local endangered species.
- we've raised awareness about this little known animal at community events in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
- We've created a video on island fox releases. Link to the video.
- And we have started an Island Fox Talk podcast. Listen to the podcast.
Yes. People are becoming aware of this native Californian and reaching out to help the island fox. Across the four islands where the island fox is endangered, population numbers are increasing. All of the land managers on the Channel Islands are seeing greater support for their efforts.
Check out the Friends of the Island Fox website.
If you are interested in getting involved and making a difference, we need volunteers to help with classroom visits and manning booths at educational events. If you have a skill that you are willing to share, let us know at islandfoxnews@gmail.com
If you know a school, class, youth or adult community group that would be interested in learning about the island fox, drop me an e-mail at islandfoxnews@gmail.com and we will set it up.
You can make a difference and the best place to start is by helping a neighbor.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The Real Poop
I can't help it. One thing that fascinates me is scat. That's right the remains of what something ate the day before. (That is unless you are a hummingbird and then its only a few hours before.)
On a recent trip to Catalina Island, I had the honor of tagging along with the fox biologists for the Catalina Island Conservancy as they did annual trapping of island foxes to give them health checks. One of the things we came across even before we found an island fox, was their scat.
Look at this scat closely and what do you see?
Is it plant or animal matter? If you want to find out the real scoop on this poop, follow the link to Friends of the Island Fox.
On a recent trip to Catalina Island, I had the honor of tagging along with the fox biologists for the Catalina Island Conservancy as they did annual trapping of island foxes to give them health checks. One of the things we came across even before we found an island fox, was their scat.
Look at this scat closely and what do you see?
Is it plant or animal matter? If you want to find out the real scoop on this poop, follow the link to Friends of the Island Fox.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Autumn Has Come
There is something in the air. A crackle of dry leaves, a cool morning breeze. It just happens. The parching hot days where the temperature soars over 110 degrees, disappear overnight. You awake one morning and autumn has come. I know most people in Southern California don't notice the change, but I do.
This is my favorite time of year. Oh, there still may be a few days of high temperature, but the air has a different taste. It brushes your cheek with a gentle stroke. The season has turned and now I start to look for the return of my winter migratory bird friends.
Watching the Kinglet
A white wingbar laces through
Green and golden leaves.
Pointed beak leads fluttering wings
over limb, past a mourning dove
up under a crinkled bough
to dart a gnat.
Pausing for a wingbeat,
The tiny kinglet chitters.
A warning? A scolding?
Then disappears behind a leaf
Weaves up through autumn heavy limbs
Plucks caterpillar from barky twig, then
Tilts his head at me just long enough
To flash a coral crest.
With raucous rant
He skips up out of sight.
The rose nods in silent observance.
The squirrel ponders the flavor of acorn.
Desert tortoise shovels last foot full of dirt
Before settling in for the winter.
Emerald green oxalis shoves
Up between geranium and rock
Attempting to overpower green brethren.
House finches dabble in the bird bath.
Orb weaver spins a spiral death net
Between two delicate stalks,
While her neighbor, funnel spider hides
Waiting for prey to approach her webby lair.
Unwary ant tumbles down the delicate slope
Of a cone-shaped pit and into the jaws of an ant lion.
Slender salamander silently stalks
Earthworm venturing from the safety of soil.
Shy rabbit passes by,
A crimson leaf surrenders to the breeze,
And the Cooper’s hawk swings low
scattering doves and finches.
The world is busy.
Stand in one place and its stories unfold.
This is my favorite time of year. Oh, there still may be a few days of high temperature, but the air has a different taste. It brushes your cheek with a gentle stroke. The season has turned and now I start to look for the return of my winter migratory bird friends.
Watching the Kinglet
A white wingbar laces through
Green and golden leaves.
Pointed beak leads fluttering wings
over limb, past a mourning dove
up under a crinkled bough
to dart a gnat.
Pausing for a wingbeat,
The tiny kinglet chitters.
A warning? A scolding?
Then disappears behind a leaf
Weaves up through autumn heavy limbs
Plucks caterpillar from barky twig, then
Tilts his head at me just long enough
To flash a coral crest.
With raucous rant
He skips up out of sight.
The rose nods in silent observance.
The squirrel ponders the flavor of acorn.
Desert tortoise shovels last foot full of dirt
Before settling in for the winter.
Emerald green oxalis shoves
Up between geranium and rock
Attempting to overpower green brethren.
House finches dabble in the bird bath.
Orb weaver spins a spiral death net
Between two delicate stalks,
While her neighbor, funnel spider hides
Waiting for prey to approach her webby lair.
Unwary ant tumbles down the delicate slope
Of a cone-shaped pit and into the jaws of an ant lion.
Slender salamander silently stalks
Earthworm venturing from the safety of soil.
Shy rabbit passes by,
A crimson leaf surrenders to the breeze,
And the Cooper’s hawk swings low
scattering doves and finches.
The world is busy.
Stand in one place and its stories unfold.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Gray Bird Grasshopper ?
There is a green grasshopper in the ornamental plum tree. It’s rich velvety green color suggests a gladiator katydid, but binoculars reveal its antennae are more like a creosote grasshopper. No, that’s not right either, there are no markings on the legs.
With its green image seared into my memory I type “green grasshopper” into Google and the hunt begins. Eventually, I’m at BugGuide searching through the taxonomic trees of grasshoppers. I finally come across a photo that matches and the name in the caption surprises me completely.
This green beauty is a nymph or juvenile form of my old friend the gray bird grasshopper (Schistocerca nitens).
The gray bird seems to appear out of the ether in mid-to-late summer, when actually like any good magician it was hiding in plain view. The young gray bird grasshopper looks completely different from the long, hard, gray body it will have in a few months.Because the grasshopper’s exoskeleton carries its color, new markings or even completely different coloration can appear with each molt of the exoskeleton. As the grasshopper grows it will molt multiple times. It is a typical and successful natural strategy: blend in with the background when you are young and vulnerable, change your appearance with adulthood so you can attract a mate and reproduce. When you are a creature born in an ecosystem that is green in spring and dries to a crackly brown by late summer, its a huge plus if you can change your coloration to fit in.
This year, southern California skipped through its green phase and went directly to parched brown. Irrigated yards are the greatest outpost of green. Perhaps that is why this young gray bird grasshopper appeared. The food possibilities are much greater this year along suburb sidewalks. But this little guy jeopardized invisiablity by chosing to snack on purple foliage. On these leaves, it was definitely not camouflaged.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Cicadas
They emerge from the soil, crawl out of their skins and make a droning buzz that eats away at human sanity. For many people it is hard to appreciate the charm and beauty of the cicada.
Across North America various species of cicadas in a range of sizes and colors, fill the summer with a variety of buzzing frequencies. These alien-looking creatures spend most of their lives underground feeding on sap from plant roots. But, after a preordained time and usually urged on by a soaking rain, they dig up out of the ground. With oversized front claws they pull their plump nymph bodies up onto bush branches, tree trunks, even lawn furniture and front porches. They find an elevated location to shed their ground-dwelling persona and emerge as creatures of the air–complete with large, glassine-looking wings.
This spring and summer a special group of cicadas has been completing their cycle of life. These cicadas have been underground for 17 years. That’s right insects, old enough to drive in most states.
When you are crawling up out of the ground and plan to spend an hour or two in the vulnerable position of cracking open your skin and resting while your new exoskeleton hardens up and your wings unfurl, it is always wise to embark on such a venture with as many friends as possible.
Seventeen-year cicadas emerge by the thousands, even tens of thousands. Some groups cover multiple square miles. The husks of their old bodies cling everywhere like aged and discard rice-paper lanterns. The vibrating hum of their mating song overwhelms all other sounds. It is a mass invasion. For the insect-phobic, it can seem like a B-movie nightmare.
But the cicada’s time is short and their numbers over the centuries have been declining as more and more of their native habitat disappears. It is hard to move out of human development’s way, when you are a small creature living quietly underground.
The 17-year cicada is a marvel. Rather than disparage, we humans would do better to appreciate and embrace what we have in common.
Cicada
Dig
Crawl
Struggle
Up through the morning crust
of yesterday’s mud
Clasp tight
rugged bark
Drag alien body into unknown worlds
Through silken air
Toward whispering leaves
Brilliant greens intoxicate
Beguiling sun caresses
Enticing you to shed
Suit of earthen armor
Decades of terrestrial brown
discarded
for velvety black
for luminous silver
for ruby eyes
The comfort of dirt
tossed aside
For precious days of blue skies
Blushing breezes
And a chance to sing
songs of summer love.
- by Keri Dearborn
First published in Cicada magazine in September/October 1998 and republished in July/August 2007
www.cricketmag.com
For more on cicadas, check out cicadamania.com
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
The Creatures of Summer
Summer meanders through hot days and warm windless nights. A new visitor appears against the screen in the bathroom. It is a chocolate looper, identifiable by its rich brown color and the distinctive white spot on its wings. The book claims it looks like a “man’s slipper;” a perfect example of how one person’s perception can become attached to a creature for decades. It doesn’t look like a “man’s slipper” to me. Who wears slippers?A native moth, the chocolate looper should have been outside feeding from one of our native plants. We found two and released both back into the night.
The baby birds have all hatched and left their nests, but there are still new babies appearing. Sitting in the morning sunshine, someone new has appeared in the garden. Can you see it in this picture? Look closely right in the center of the picture at the top edge of the cement bricks, just to the right of the seam. This baby is only about the size of your little finger.
It’s a young Western fence lizard. We’ve had two pairs of adult fence lizards this year. The pair living closest to the house appears to have been successful in producing at least one youngster.Western fence lizards are a boon to the garden. Find out why they are Superheros.
We’ll be watching for this little guy as he grows up.
As evening creeps across the hillsides and the freeway traffic drones, a desert cottontail wriggles under the fence and feeds on the grass that I was thinking about pulling. I’d rather watch him eat it.Allen's and Anna's hummingbirds race to visit the nectar feeders one more time before bed and the hooded oriole has returned for a late snack. (See the Allen's hummingbird family)
As the evening sky darkens, two big brown bats swoop and circle through the streetlight glow, snacking on a variety of insects. Bat Video.
Bats consume mosquitoes and moths and other insects all night long. Perhaps that’s why the chocolate loopers took refuge in the house.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
"The Geese of Beaver Bog" by Bernd Heinrich
Book Review:
The Geese of Beaver Bog
by Bernd Heinrich
HarperCollins, New York, NY 2004
Looking for a summer read that has intertwining romances, intrigue and an uplifting ending? Then get your hands on Bernd Heinrich’s “The Geese of Beaver Bog.”
Heinrich is one of my favorite authors. He combines the scientific insight of a biology professor, the lyric wordsmithing of a poet and the curiosity of child with the artful unraveling of complex concepts that is the gift of a true teacher.
In addition, Heinrich’s books stand out for me because of his passion for fieldwork. He wades through the muck to get close to the nesting geese. He clutches a cup of hot coffee while observing on a frosty morning. He is the one who is struck by a defensive gander while patiently trying to establish a relationship with several pairs of wild Canada geese.
Less scientific than previous works, like Winter World, The Geese of Beaver Bog is Heinrich’s very personal saga of a Canada goose named “Peep.” This female Canada goose was raised by Heinrich and his family and then returned to the wild.
Could a gosling imprinted on humans lead a normal life in the wild? Would it remember its human family years later? Heinrich chronicles his life with Peep and in the process reveals some myths about Canada geese. Do they mate for life? Do they build their nests in communal groups? Do male geese dominate their female partners?
You will count the days along with Heinrich waiting for the eggs to hatch and hurry through the pages to find the geese when they disappear. You’ll hang on the successes and failures, and try to listen in as the parents communicate with the hatchlings still inside their eggs.
If you are interested in the natural world and understanding creatures different from yourself, spend some quality reading time with Bernd Heinrich and discover the complex and fascinating world of Beaver Bog. You’ll never look at a Canada goose the same way again.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
4th of July Audio Play
Happy Independence Day !
It's 100˚F in the shade, but still cooler than yesterday. While I'm happier in the house, the Western fence lizards and the alligator lizards are frolicking.
To celebrate the 4th of July, my husband Michael Lawshe (soundzgood.info) researched historical documents and eyewitness-accounts and prompted me to write an audio-play. We gathered some friends and neighbors and reenacted some of the historical events leading up to 1776. We call our LIVE CAST recording "Prelude to Revolution." (1 hour in length)
CLICK HERE to link to Eclipse-1.com and hear the voices and events on the road to American Independence. (Yes, we did really reenact the New York Riots and the Boston Massacre in our living room.)
Why is my personal Liberty important to the lizards in my backyard? It means with my voice and my vote, I can support conservation issues and environmental protection.
As more and more of the world is degraded by human activity, it becomes increasingly vital that we stand up and speak out to preserve our democracy. If we do not, if our government is owned by the highest bidder, we will not have the ability to stop those who would threaten the entire planet for temporary profit.
It's 100˚F in the shade, but still cooler than yesterday. While I'm happier in the house, the Western fence lizards and the alligator lizards are frolicking.
To celebrate the 4th of July, my husband Michael Lawshe (soundzgood.info) researched historical documents and eyewitness-accounts and prompted me to write an audio-play. We gathered some friends and neighbors and reenacted some of the historical events leading up to 1776. We call our LIVE CAST recording "Prelude to Revolution." (1 hour in length)
CLICK HERE to link to Eclipse-1.com and hear the voices and events on the road to American Independence. (Yes, we did really reenact the New York Riots and the Boston Massacre in our living room.)
Why is my personal Liberty important to the lizards in my backyard? It means with my voice and my vote, I can support conservation issues and environmental protection.
As more and more of the world is degraded by human activity, it becomes increasingly vital that we stand up and speak out to preserve our democracy. If we do not, if our government is owned by the highest bidder, we will not have the ability to stop those who would threaten the entire planet for temporary profit.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Near Natives
Many of the plants in Zone 2 have been planted in the last two years.
Earlier observations revealed that the exotic African daisy that previously filled all of the front planter was home only to exotic pests–brown garden snails, common pill bugs, gray slugs and Argentine ants. The few native spiders and insects were found primarily on the few native plants.
So I began gradually replacing the African daisy with native flowering shrubs and ground covers.
But here’s the rub: Now, as I am identifying each of these new plants with their full scientific name, I am beginning to grumble. Yarrow is a native plant, but the yarrow, blooming in bursts of yellow in this photo, is a Mediterranean subspecies not the native.
Are insects visiting these heady blooms? Yes. But it isn’t really a California native.
The Santa Barbara daisy growing in two small clumps is flowering and providing habitat for a corner spider. But this ground cover is native to Mexico. Once again, close but California native.
Am I going to rip them out? No. I’m accepting them as near natives.
The Heuchera and the Ceanothus are hybrids, natives with a twist of vigor. They are growing and doing well.
Going Native with your landscaping can be a challenge. Several times I have become disgruntled with the goal because it seemed so daunting. Strict native plants from specialty native plant foundations are expense and frequently less than half survive. Recently, I’d become encouraged because the “natives” had become easier to locate, less expensive and more successful in the garden. Now? Well? I’m a little disheartened, but the hybrids are doing well.
When I total up the data for Zone 2 and 3, the hillside planter, we will see if the “native” plants are making a difference.
Earlier observations revealed that the exotic African daisy that previously filled all of the front planter was home only to exotic pests–brown garden snails, common pill bugs, gray slugs and Argentine ants. The few native spiders and insects were found primarily on the few native plants.
So I began gradually replacing the African daisy with native flowering shrubs and ground covers.
But here’s the rub: Now, as I am identifying each of these new plants with their full scientific name, I am beginning to grumble. Yarrow is a native plant, but the yarrow, blooming in bursts of yellow in this photo, is a Mediterranean subspecies not the native.
Are insects visiting these heady blooms? Yes. But it isn’t really a California native.
The Santa Barbara daisy growing in two small clumps is flowering and providing habitat for a corner spider. But this ground cover is native to Mexico. Once again, close but California native.
Am I going to rip them out? No. I’m accepting them as near natives.
The Heuchera and the Ceanothus are hybrids, natives with a twist of vigor. They are growing and doing well.
Going Native with your landscaping can be a challenge. Several times I have become disgruntled with the goal because it seemed so daunting. Strict native plants from specialty native plant foundations are expense and frequently less than half survive. Recently, I’d become encouraged because the “natives” had become easier to locate, less expensive and more successful in the garden. Now? Well? I’m a little disheartened, but the hybrids are doing well.
When I total up the data for Zone 2 and 3, the hillside planter, we will see if the “native” plants are making a difference.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Here Be Spiders!
Zone 1 is the Realm of Spiders! I’ve tabulated and entered the data collected counting plants and animals in Zone 1 for the Backyard Biodiversity Project.
The area consists of the cement walkway with steps to the front door, the wall, the eaves and the planter under the stairs. As you can see, there is minimal habitat.
I have collected data on this Zone three other times, October 2001 and January of 2004 and 2005. I couldn’t understand why it was taking me so much longer this time around, but there was a good reason.
Previously the highest species count was 19 different plants and animals.
This time, I found 63 species living in Zone 1 or traveling through it. There are 47 different animal species and 16 plant species.
I think the major difference with the species count comes from the fact that it is summer. During January counts I only saw 4 species of spider, but in June there are 2 species of mites and 14 different spider species.
They range in size from adult corner spiders (Hololena curta) about the size of a quarter to a tiny delicate spider only a millimeter in size that is gray in color and sways like a dancer on the filaments of its web. Young wolf spiders roam the stairway while 7 juvenile black widows (Latrodectus mactans) are trying to grow up unnoticed at the corner of a step or in between bricks. Though they are feared by many people, the odds are against any of these youngsters making it to adulthood. Most likely, they will become food for someone else.
Seven cobweb spiders (Pholcus phalangiodes) stake out the high overhangs while another exotic, a sow bug killer spider (Dysdera croctoa) hides under a brick in the planter waiting for one of the common pill bugs (Armadillidium vulare). The pill bugs have increased in number, so it is fine with me if this girl hunts the planter.
There is a house spider (Achaearanea tepidariurm) on the stairs. A predatory red mite dashes across my data sheet. And if I count early in the morning, I see this young common orb weaver (Neoscona oxacensis), before she roles up her web from the previous night and retreats to the Boston ivy for the day. Currently, she’s only about 5 mm, but come the end of summer she will be a plump beauty snaring insects in her web each night.
A mourning dove, an alligator lizard, a desert cottontail and a striped skunk occasionally pass through this small Zone. The dove and the lizard bask in the sun, the cottontail uses the steps, while the skunk seems to be dining on the occasional brown garden snail.
Since I removed some of the nonnative plants and have reduced the water in this area, the exotic brown garden snails and the Argentine ants have decreased. In fact I haven’t seen an Argentine ant in this Zone since 2004.
The weeping fig (Ficus benjamina) is a perfect example of an exotic species severely damaged by this year’s winter frost. While it is slowly recovering, native plants weathered the frost and are a better option. To help Zone 1 provide more habitat, I plan is to add more native plants and create a small rock pile that will offer shelter to slender salamanders and alligator lizards.
See what was in Zone 17
Animalbytes Annual species directory
The area consists of the cement walkway with steps to the front door, the wall, the eaves and the planter under the stairs. As you can see, there is minimal habitat.
I have collected data on this Zone three other times, October 2001 and January of 2004 and 2005. I couldn’t understand why it was taking me so much longer this time around, but there was a good reason.
Previously the highest species count was 19 different plants and animals.
This time, I found 63 species living in Zone 1 or traveling through it. There are 47 different animal species and 16 plant species.
I think the major difference with the species count comes from the fact that it is summer. During January counts I only saw 4 species of spider, but in June there are 2 species of mites and 14 different spider species.
They range in size from adult corner spiders (Hololena curta) about the size of a quarter to a tiny delicate spider only a millimeter in size that is gray in color and sways like a dancer on the filaments of its web. Young wolf spiders roam the stairway while 7 juvenile black widows (Latrodectus mactans) are trying to grow up unnoticed at the corner of a step or in between bricks. Though they are feared by many people, the odds are against any of these youngsters making it to adulthood. Most likely, they will become food for someone else.
Seven cobweb spiders (Pholcus phalangiodes) stake out the high overhangs while another exotic, a sow bug killer spider (Dysdera croctoa) hides under a brick in the planter waiting for one of the common pill bugs (Armadillidium vulare). The pill bugs have increased in number, so it is fine with me if this girl hunts the planter.
There is a house spider (Achaearanea tepidariurm) on the stairs. A predatory red mite dashes across my data sheet. And if I count early in the morning, I see this young common orb weaver (Neoscona oxacensis), before she roles up her web from the previous night and retreats to the Boston ivy for the day. Currently, she’s only about 5 mm, but come the end of summer she will be a plump beauty snaring insects in her web each night.A mourning dove, an alligator lizard, a desert cottontail and a striped skunk occasionally pass through this small Zone. The dove and the lizard bask in the sun, the cottontail uses the steps, while the skunk seems to be dining on the occasional brown garden snail.
Since I removed some of the nonnative plants and have reduced the water in this area, the exotic brown garden snails and the Argentine ants have decreased. In fact I haven’t seen an Argentine ant in this Zone since 2004.
The weeping fig (Ficus benjamina) is a perfect example of an exotic species severely damaged by this year’s winter frost. While it is slowly recovering, native plants weathered the frost and are a better option. To help Zone 1 provide more habitat, I plan is to add more native plants and create a small rock pile that will offer shelter to slender salamanders and alligator lizards.See what was in Zone 17
Animalbytes Annual species directory
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Saving the Island Fox
For two days I've been in the classroom and not counting creatures in the yard. I've been out talking to school children about biodiversity in California and the endangered island fox.
The island fox is found only one place in the world–the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California. This endangered creature is the perfect example of a neighbor that is in desperate need of help.
I got involved with Friends of the Island Fox because they are local conservation in action– people working together to save a local endangered species. Check out their website www.islandfox.org
You can make a difference. And it starts with one small creature and one small habitat at a time.
The island fox is found only one place in the world–the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California. This endangered creature is the perfect example of a neighbor that is in desperate need of help.
I got involved with Friends of the Island Fox because they are local conservation in action– people working together to save a local endangered species. Check out their website www.islandfox.org
You can make a difference. And it starts with one small creature and one small habitat at a time.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Backyard Biodiversity Project - Steps and Spiders
Zone 1 is a narrow strip of cement steps and a raised planter dominated by Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata ‘veitchi’). Amazingly, the piles of debris that collect in the corner of the steps are alive with creatures, while the Boston ivy is a wasteland.
This exotic plant does not seem to provide food or shelter for native creatures. Most of the spiders live above the ivy or along the walkway.
I’ve noticed this before and that is why I have planted hybrids of native Heuchera or coral bells in this planter. The plants are taking hold but have yet to attract a community of native creatures.
Zone 1 is a transition zone–too close to the house to be truly inhabited by wild creatures. Anything bigger than a dime, just travels through.
Cobweb spiders (Pholcus phalangiodes) are the only exception, they thrive beneath the rafters. These are not daddy longlegs, they are long legged spiders–the spiders you see up in the corner of your living room. They are not a native species, they are a European import. They probably arrived with the first English colonists at Jamestown.
Cobweb spiders are just as tied to human structures as we are. They like the environment people create and need the protection of human habitation to survive here.
Seven cobweb spiders in this small area. Hard to believe? No.
Just wait until I compile the list of all the creatures I recorded in this Zone. It was truly the Realm of Spiders.
This exotic plant does not seem to provide food or shelter for native creatures. Most of the spiders live above the ivy or along the walkway.
I’ve noticed this before and that is why I have planted hybrids of native Heuchera or coral bells in this planter. The plants are taking hold but have yet to attract a community of native creatures.
Zone 1 is a transition zone–too close to the house to be truly inhabited by wild creatures. Anything bigger than a dime, just travels through.
Cobweb spiders (Pholcus phalangiodes) are the only exception, they thrive beneath the rafters. These are not daddy longlegs, they are long legged spiders–the spiders you see up in the corner of your living room. They are not a native species, they are a European import. They probably arrived with the first English colonists at Jamestown.
Cobweb spiders are just as tied to human structures as we are. They like the environment people create and need the protection of human habitation to survive here.Seven cobweb spiders in this small area. Hard to believe? No.
Just wait until I compile the list of all the creatures I recorded in this Zone. It was truly the Realm of Spiders.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Backyard Biodiversity Project - Day 8
Who knew that five cements steps leading up to the front door could be such a challenge. This seemingly sterile landscape shelters communities tucked in cracks and along the edges where debris collects.
There are the remnants of a European honey bee, a lone pill bug marching along, clusters of springtails breaking down the debris into soil.
Everything is small here. My loop reveals that the tiny spider with its web among the brick edging is a young black widow. One springtail stands out from the rest. It is larger, honey colored and has longer antennae.
Then I stumble across the truly unusual. In this brown and grey world, a lime-green maggot only 4mm long. Is it masquerading as a caterpillar? What is it doing among the dead leaves? What is it?
I search through my books and find nothing. I go back to take a photo and it is gone.
Searching the Internet I finally find that it is a larva from the Syrphid fly family, a kind of flower or hover fly. This green guy was looking for aphids or other insects to eat.
Just as importantly, I found two wonderful insect identification resources:
A driving force of the Backyard Biodiversity Project is becoming aware of the living things that are sharing this small piece of the planet with me. Be INFORMED before you squash! Most bugs, even my green maggot, are beneficial to humans and the planet.
There are the remnants of a European honey bee, a lone pill bug marching along, clusters of springtails breaking down the debris into soil.
Everything is small here. My loop reveals that the tiny spider with its web among the brick edging is a young black widow. One springtail stands out from the rest. It is larger, honey colored and has longer antennae.
Then I stumble across the truly unusual. In this brown and grey world, a lime-green maggot only 4mm long. Is it masquerading as a caterpillar? What is it doing among the dead leaves? What is it?
I search through my books and find nothing. I go back to take a photo and it is gone.
Searching the Internet I finally find that it is a larva from the Syrphid fly family, a kind of flower or hover fly. This green guy was looking for aphids or other insects to eat.
Just as importantly, I found two wonderful insect identification resources:
- The Bug Guide - scientific source with a great search capability
- What's That Bug - two "save-that-beneficial-insect" like-minded folks also from Los Angeles helping people all over the world identify insects
A driving force of the Backyard Biodiversity Project is becoming aware of the living things that are sharing this small piece of the planet with me. Be INFORMED before you squash! Most bugs, even my green maggot, are beneficial to humans and the planet.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Spider Diversity in Zone 1
Today I started on Zone 1 of the Backyard Biodiversity Project.
The stairs to the front doorway are populated by a variety of spiders. For a small insect it is a predatory mine field. Some of the hunters are only a millimeter in size while others are giants at a quarter of an inch.
There was a juvenile black widow, a corner spider, cobweb spiders and more. All of them valuable insect predators. In their webs were moths, earwigs, gnats and a click beetle.
This small spider is 2-3 millimeters and hiding in a hollow on the stucco wall.
There was no web. Identifying these small arachnids is a challenge. If you know what this spider is let me know. Leave a comment.
Other spiders:
The stairs to the front doorway are populated by a variety of spiders. For a small insect it is a predatory mine field. Some of the hunters are only a millimeter in size while others are giants at a quarter of an inch.
There was a juvenile black widow, a corner spider, cobweb spiders and more. All of them valuable insect predators. In their webs were moths, earwigs, gnats and a click beetle.This small spider is 2-3 millimeters and hiding in a hollow on the stucco wall.
There was no web. Identifying these small arachnids is a challenge. If you know what this spider is let me know. Leave a comment.
Other spiders:
Monday, June 04, 2007
Backyard Biodiversity Project - Zone 17
Part of surveying the plants and animals of Hummingbird Hill is recording all the data. I’ve divided the property into Zones. The Zones are different sizes but each is a type of habitat.
Zone 17 Description
I’m interested in Native vs. Exotic species - who is surviving, who is not. Who is feeding on whom. What animals are interacting with which plants. The hardest task is finding a good source for identifiing the small creatures and the “weeds.”
Zone 17 General Notes:
Not yet identified:
Zone 17 Description
- Location: Planter in front of house on a North facing slope, from driveway to the eastern property edge. Includes driveway in front of house.
- Soil Condition: Poor, concrete and gravel over clay
- Water Availability: Manual hose irrigation and rain
- Climate: Dry, sun
- Human Traffic: Minimal, but daily car traffic across driveway
- Animal Traffic: Minimal canine passing through
I’m interested in Native vs. Exotic species - who is surviving, who is not. Who is feeding on whom. What animals are interacting with which plants. The hardest task is finding a good source for identifiing the small creatures and the “weeds.”
Zone 17 General Notes:
- Densest populations of animal species were found in specific areas. Dominant species are scale and aphids; exotic cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi) [on Native holly cherry] and exotic oleander aphid (Aphis nerii) [on exotic oleander] 170; and Native rose aphid (Microsiphum rosae) 50 [on exotic oleander]. Small milkweed bugs (Lygaeus kalmii) constituted a reproducing population of natives on the ground among the gravel. Spiders were found on the oleander stumps. All other animals were singletons or deceased populations.
- Dominant plant species is unidentified. Most successful plants are volunteers in cracks of driveway.
- Exotic snail and crustaceans only represented by deceased bodies possibly due to drought.
- The greatest species diversity was among spiders, 7 species and insects 10 species.
- 31 species identified - 25 animals, 6 plants
- Greatest population - cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi) 200 individuals and yet-identified volunteer ground cover, 34 plants.
- Currently no birds, reptiles or mammals live in this Zone, though birds have nested here in the past.
- Animals out number plants. Natives out number Exotics.
- rose aphid, Microsiphum rosae, 50 (feeding on oleander)
- California carpenter bee, Xylocopa californica, 1
- small milkweed bug, Lygaeus kalmii, 67
- gray bird grasshopper, Schistocerca nitens, 1 (body parts left by predator)
- black gnat, Bradysia impatiens, 1
- oleander aphid, Aphis nerii, 170 (feeding on oleander)
- Argentine ant, Iridomyrmex humilis, 1 (one the garage door)
- cottony cushion scale, Icerya purchasi, 200 (feeding on holly leaf cherry)
- oleander scale, Aspidiotus nerii, 1 (feeding on oleander)
Not yet identified:
- long-legged fly, Dolichopodidae ssp type, 1
- round snail, Discus whitneyi, 3 dead
- soil mite, Oribatei spp., 1
- corner spider, Hololena curta, 3
- trashweb spider, Cyclosa turbinata, 10
- brown garden snail, Helix aspers, 6 dead
- common pill bug, Armadillidium vulgare, 4 dead
- snail, cone type, longer than wide, 1 dead
- spider unidentified, ‘1 mm’ brown, 1
- spider unidentified, ‘3 mm’ brown no web, long front legs, 2
- spider unidentified, ‘ant-sized’ black, 1
- spider unidentified, ‘ant-sized’ black with web, 1
- band-tailed pigeon, Columba fasciata, feather
- California towhee, Pipilo crissalis, 1
- desert cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii, scat
- fox squirrel, Sciurus niger, 1
- sow thistle, Sunchus ssp., 15 (volunteer in driveway cracks)
- spotted spurge, Euphorbia maculata, 1 (volunteer in driveway cracks)
- annual bluegrass, Poa annua, 2 (volunteer in driveway cracks)
- ground cover with white flowers, 34 (volunteer in driveway cracks)
- oleander, Nerium oleander, 4 (recently cut to the ground)
- holly leaf cherry, Prunus ilicifolia ilicifolia, 2 (volunteers)
Backyard Biodiversity Project - Day 3
I started on what I thought would be the most sterile “zone” on the property - Zone 17, a barren, gravely planter next to the sidewalk and the lower driveway. To my astonishment I logged in six species of plants and individuals, or remnants of individuals, from 24 animal species! 
Stunning!
What’s that bug? This is a small milkweed bug (Lygaeus kalmii). I came across 9 adults.
And if you look closely at the gravel.
In between leaf litter and seeds from the now cutback oleander, there were 58 juvenile small milkweed bugs. That means this population is living and reproducing in this small planter, along the driveway.
These bugs typically feed on milkweed, but there is no milkweed in the area. What are they feeding on? Could it be the oleander? It seems to be the sterile oleander seeds they are eating. It will be interesting to see if there are milkweed bugs near the other oleanders.
Stunning!
What’s that bug? This is a small milkweed bug (Lygaeus kalmii). I came across 9 adults.
And if you look closely at the gravel.
In between leaf litter and seeds from the now cutback oleander, there were 58 juvenile small milkweed bugs. That means this population is living and reproducing in this small planter, along the driveway.
These bugs typically feed on milkweed, but there is no milkweed in the area. What are they feeding on? Could it be the oleander? It seems to be the sterile oleander seeds they are eating. It will be interesting to see if there are milkweed bugs near the other oleanders.
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