Easy Energy Saver

We did something quick and easy to reduce our energy bill. We put up an old fashioned laundry line. Well not "old fashioned," actually we used a pole along the side of our car port.

By air drying half our laundry, we are cutting the use of our dryer in half. Who convinced us that on dry summer days we needed to use a machine to do what Mother Nature does just as well? Besides, air drying is gentler on clothing and helps maintain clothing color.

The drying pole is mounted between the car port supports on curtain rod hardware. When not in use the pole is unnoticeable to most people. 

Letting your laundry air dry is a quick and easy sustainable life choice. 

Six, Seven, Eight - Yellow-Breasted Chat

This morning while videoing hummingbirds for an upcoming project, I had an exciting surprise: my 678th Life Bird - a yellow-breasted chat.

We haven't traveled to many new destinations this year and that can make it difficult to see new bird species. On a weekend trip to San Diego I did spot my first black skimmer and a California gnatcatcher, but this sighting was truly rewarding because it was in our own yard.

The chat was feeding in some of our dense native shrubbery and taking a quick bath in the water pooled on some leaves. I didn't get a photo, but the bright yellow chest and long tail are printed in my mind.

We have now seen 71 species of birds in our yard in suburban Los Angeles. A perfect example of how recreating and restoring native habitat is vital to preserving biodiversity. A wildlife refuge is possible in your own backyard.

From Mongolia, to Turkey, to Southern California

It's hard to believe that it was two years ago this week that we were in Mongolia to see our fifth total solar eclipse.



Video of Mongolia.

Two years before that we were in Turkey.


Both of these locations highlight the importance of water, the impacts of long-term human habitation on the environment and the dramatic effect climate change can have on the natural world and human cultures.

This August we are at home. Summer 2010 has been moderate, only a few days over 100 degrees. But as we approach high summer, this is the dormant period for our native plants and animals. Still the western fence lizard babies are emerging from hidden nests in the ground and the California towhees hatched out three chicks yesterday morning.

More on our native populations in summer to come. We're out in the field documenting our wildlife on video.

New Life for the Los Angeles River

What recycling/rehabilitation project is larger than reestablishing the Los Angeles River as a living river? In the last two weeks the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has declared that the Los Angeles River is a waterway deserving of the protection of the Clean Water Act–in other words a real river.

For all of my life the Los Angeles River has been confined between concrete walls. But in recent years we have seen sections of the river reclaim its freedom. In forgotten corridors vegetation has flourished, wildlife has returned.

Many L.A. residents who have relocated here from the east regard the Los Angeles River as a glorified storm drain. They cite flooding in the 1930s and use it as evidence that the river only flows seasonally and is "dangerous." But if they would look back in history a little bit further, they would realize that there were human settlements along the river long before tract homes were built and agricultural lands were sectioned off. The native people and the Spanish lived here because there was water and they built on higher ground up from the meandering and somewhat marshy river because they respected the natural forces that caused the waterway to fluctuate seasonally.

I grew up in West Hills (when it was still Canoga Park) along Bell Creek, one of the three small streams that start the Los Angeles River. Though wild in the hillsides, the creek was cemented in by developers once it met the valley. Still, was a place where you could find tadpoles and raccoons. Though it trickled in the heat of summer, Bell Creek always flowed. Local folklore tells of a Native American village that stood here at the base of the foothills above the flood plain of the central part of the valley.

Leonis Adobe in Calabasas is built along Arroyo Calabasas which joins Bell and Chatsworth Creeks to form the River (just east of Canoga High School). At its beginnings this stream has been cleaned of debris in recent years and bubbles freely past the ranch house built in 1844. That is until it flows into Los Angeles County, where it too is confined in concrete. Topanga Mall is actually built over it.

The first house that my husband and I lived in was in Van Nuys along Bull Creek, another tributary confined by the Army Corp. of Engineers. This stream was contained so that Van Nuys Airfield could be built. In the last two years, the lower section of Bull Creek, just before it joins the river, has been rehabilitated. If you want to see what our waterways could have looked like prior to the paving of the San Fernando Valley visit Lake Balboa Park and stop at the dirt turnout before you reach the lake area. Walk along newly liberated Bull Creek and you will be surprised at the wildlife. This island of habitat is home to ground squirrels and desert cottontail rabbits. The sandy cliff banks are perfect nesting areas for swallows. Ducks and herons thrive.

To experience what marshy wetland areas were like and the myriad of birds that lived there, visit Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Area. The surrounding grasslands, just slightly elevated above the wetland, feed a variety of native sparrows and finches visiting in the winter. These areas are flooded following storms, just as they should be, so the grasses can grow in the silt enriched soil.

Travel down the Los Angeles River beyond Burbank and you will come to areas where you can see the ground water bubbling up in the channel. In some areas it is lifting the concrete. The natural river is trying to return. Embracing the Los Angeles River.

Yes, applying the Clean Water Act is going to mean that each of us as individuals is going to become legally responsible for what runs off of our property and into the river. If you needed more than ethical and health reasons for limiting pesticides and herbicides sprayed on your property, this is it. For me, I'm excited. I have always loved the Los Angeles River, even when it was nearly dry. It could become the green heart of our city if we can all come together and find the positive thread that connects us together, the Los Angeles River.

For more on the recent status change of the Los Angeles River visit our local state representative, Julia Brownley's webpage.

Recycling Furniture with Paint

I gave new life to my old dining room chairs with a real recycling project–redoing the old upholstery.

Another idea is to paint older furniture and give it a new identity. Check out some ideas on what you can do with paint to breathe new life into your beloved furniture at The Decorative Paintbrush. I think you will find Mary's work inspirational.

Bull Thistle - A Real Weed

Most people regard all thistles as invasive weeds. I happen to think they are beautiful and I have taken photos of them all over the world.

Recently we had a thistle sprout in the driveway. I decided to let it grow. Several species of thistle are native to Southern California and their nodding flower heads provide seed for our local lesser goldfinches and house finches. The down that creates the parachute to help spread the seed is used by a variety of birds and small creatures to provide plush comfort to their nests and homes.

The thistle in the drive has flowered and I think it is lovely–prickly, but delicate.

However, after consulting a few books and two reliable websites Oregon State University and Invasive.org, I have identified my thistle as a bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) a European / western Asian import. The “vulgare” in its scientific name means common. This imported thistle can be highly invasive and problematic.

For the sake of my local wild environment, this thistle must go.

Some “weeds” are welcome additions to your backyard biodiversity, others are not. If you have a thistle find out if it is a beneficial native or a problematic invasive and act from a position of knowledge.

A Lion in the Yard - Ant Lions

There are tiny death traps in my front yard–ant lion pits.

One of the components of an integrated pest management plan is understanding the natural predators of a "pest" species. Ants are a common pest in suburban Los Angeles. Ants are attracted to the sweet and fat food stuffs abundant in our modern human diet. Invasive exotic species like the Argentine ant are also attracted to the water that people make available beyond natural amounts.

One ant predator is the descriptively named ant lion. This member of the ancient order of nerve-winged insects, Neuroptera, voraciously eats ants that tumble into its funnel-shaped pit made in loose sandy dirt. The hungry ant lion larva sits at the bottom of its excavated cone of loose soil. When an ant or other small insect troubles into the pit, grains of tumbling sand alert the ant lion that prey has entered its trap. The steep sides make escape difficult. Without warning the ant lion's fierce jaws snatch the frantic ant and consume it.

In several areas of the yard, small patches of sandy soil provide the perfect spot for these hidden ant traps. Throughout the summer little ant lion pits appear and disappear as the ant lions hunt, mature and eventually become delicate flying adults with elegant wings.

One of the rewards of not using pesticides, is the variety of insect predators that live in and visit our yard. Praying mantises, green lacewings, trapdoor spiders and ant lions are part of that biodiversity that maintains the natural balance in our yard and keeps the "pests" under control.

The next time you see an unusually perfect little pit in an out of the way place, take a second look. It could be an ant lion lair and an important insect predator.

Recycling Furniture - Part 2

The scariest part of reupholstering your own furniture is the day you take it apart to start the project and the moment you commit and put scissors to the new fabric.

Quality fabric is an investment and we calculated our needs pretty close. When you cut the fabric you don’t want to make any mistakes. We used the old fabric removed from one of the chairs as our pattern plus an additional 1.5-2 inches along all edges. You want to have enough fabric to hold on to and pull it, and you will trim off excess. Also remember that you will need extra fabric if there is a specific pattern to the material. The new fabric had a definite pattern and we wanted to make sure that the diamond shapes were always going the same way.


We started with the chair seats because they seemed the most straightforward. We had redone the support of the chair seat with jute webbing. Here you can see the fabric placed upside down, the new layer of foam (white) and then the wooden seat frame with the jute webbing and the remnants of the old fabric that was cut off (blue).

Recovering requires pulling the fabric snug before you staple it down. As novices, this was a two person job. I pulled the fabric tight and my husband manned the electric staple gun. We started at the back edge then pulled the opposite side taut, the front, then the sides, always working in opposition. We left the corners and then went back to them. Each corner was neatly folded, like wrapping a package.

We had carefully removed the black fabric from the underside of the chairs and saved it because it was still in good shape. Stapling it back in place finished the chair seats.

Next we took on the padded chair backs. We added new batting to the front of the chairs and carefully stapled the fabric on in the same way that the original fabric had been placed. It took four hands to keep the fabric smooth and tight, easing it over the rounded corners. The back was recovered last. We replaced the 1/4” foam, then pulled the fabric firmly and stapled it down.

The last step was folding over the fabric to make a smooth edge at the bottom of the chair back.

The final step was putting the back in place and attaching the seat.

It took weeks to take all of the chairs apart and remove the old fabric and staples. An afternoon to clean the wooden frames. An afternoon to redo the seat webbing and a day to upholster with the new fabric.

Our dining room chairs are beautiful and comfortable again. They look like new and we did it all ourselves! We saved money and natural resources and tried to reduce the amount of materials that were chemically treated. Best of all, we have a sense of accomplishment.

Wild Mourning Doves

Mourning doves are a common wild bird seen across North America. They are hunted by hawks and a long list of predators, including humans. Yet despite their position in the food web as a "fast food" item, mourning doves appear as one of the top ten most-counted bird species every year during the Great Backyard Bird Count.

In my own FeederWatch and Ebird counts, I always have mourning doves.

When I recently posted photos of a mourning dove nest with chicks, I was contacted by someone wanting to buy them.

This individual had rescued a young mourning dove, raised it as a pet, and now was looking for a mate for the captive bird.

While this person's intentions were to do good, they were crossing some important lines.

1. It is illegal to keep native North American wild birds as pets. Around the world many species are endangered by unregulated or illegal collection for the pet trade.
   
2. Young birds raised by humans, frequently are unable to socialize naturally with birds of their own kind and may never breed. (This is a constant issue with bird conservation programs and why such complicated efforts like feeding puppets are employed so that young birds never associate humans as their care-providers and/or parents.)
3. Rescuing a wild creature means returning it to its normal, wild life whenever possible.

I have offered sanctuary to wild animals for short amounts of time; tree squirrel, California towhee, Allen's hummingbird. Success is seeing that animal living its life in the wild, even if that only means a few days.

The more I observe wild creatures, the less I want any creature to be a pet. Is it difficult to let a creature go back into the wild where it might be eaten by a predator or injured by humans? Yes.

But if you provide safe habitat, wild creatures will come and make use of the sanctuary you offer at the level they need and desire. I am spiritually uplifted watching the preying mantis youngsters emerge from their egg casing, witnessing the trials and challenges of the hummingbirds that I have rescued as they live their own natural lives. I do not need to own them. I don't want to own them. They all have important roles to play in a vibrant, healthy planet. I hope you can start to see the wild creatures around you in this way too.

Starting with the Seats - Upholstery

Where do you start when you are taking on your first upholstery project? With the part that seems the least intimidating–for our dining room chairs, that was the seats.

Initially we thought we could keep the old seat support materials.

But as we took more of them apart, we realized that the plasticized fabric was disintegrating and had completely failed on some of the chairs.

As we set out to redo the chairs, I did some research into "green" upholstery materials. While natural latex materials are available through the Internet, finding them locally was an issue. The cost is greater and the durability less, in some cases. We chose to use natural materials where we could.

We cut the old synthetic material out and replaced it with old-fashioned jute webbing. Jute is a strong natural fiber. You probably know it from burlap sacks. Jute has been used to provide sturdy, yet comfortable, support in furniture for thousands of years.

By interweaving the jute webbing, you create a stronger support because the weight is distributed evenly across the seat area.

Using an electric stapler, we attached the webbing to the seat frame. This electric stapler is my new favorite tool. It made the upholstery project possible.

The jute webbing will support the foam cushion on the chair seat.

Recycling Dining Room Chairs. Next comes the most stressful step, cutting into the fabric.

Recycling Furniture

I had a goal of sustainably reinvigorating my dining room chairs in June. Green Action #6 - I wanted to dig deeper with living a more sustainable lifestyle. Giving new life to our 22-year-old chairs was quite a process, but we did it. This was real recycling.

We took the chairs apart; removing the seat and back cushions, taking notes through out the process so that we could put everything back together.

Before we worked on the upholstery itself, I cleaned the wood framework of the chairs.

Each oak chair was scrubbed and oiled. When they were done, the frames looked like new.

Tomorrow, we'll take on the upholstery.

Integrated Pest Management

There is an aspect of sustainability in everything we do, that includes how you handle the tomato worms in your garden or the ants in your pantry.

This week I'm working with a Girl Scout Twilight Camp to help some girls earn their Incredible Insects badge. As part of my preparation, I had to become knowledgeable about the 5 components of Integrated Pest Management.

While the five components are fairly intuitive, knowing them and applying them to any "pest" situation can help you respond in a more sustainable and earth-friendly manner.

Over the next few days I'm going to apply these five components to a couple of "pest" situations around my own home to demonstrate how you too can dig a little deeper and find new ways to approach old insect "pest" problems.

Look at the insect in the photo above. Is it a pest or a beneficial ? If you don't know, make sure you come back over the next week, it could make a huge difference in how you see the world and respond to insects.

Interaction Between California Quail and Other Birds

I've continued to do regular birding walks at Serrania Avenue Park. One of the species I've been looking for is California quail. The number of quail seems less than normal despite the ample rainfall that has been a boon to other species.

However, this morning we saw a plump pair and heard two additional males calling from the two sides of this canyon.

Unfortunately, the pair did not have any chicks following them. But we did observe something that we haven't seen before:

The two quail were making their way through tall dry mustard plants. They were feeding on either insects or seeds. Following them were two immature Bewick's wrens and an adult California towhee with three juveniles. The smaller young birds seemed to be taking advantage of what the larger quail were scaring up.

How different the San Fernando Valley must have looked when it was mostly tall grasses with a riparian corridor along the Los Angeles River and its tributaries. How many birds would have been feeding on the seeds and insects? What interaction between species would you have seen?

The more we can establish a quilt of native habitat across the suburban landscape, the more we may have an opportunity to understand the native wildlife that should be here.

Digging Deeper means understanding that the interconnection between species is essential to a sustainable world.

Then There Were Mourning Doves

Two mourning dove chicks in a nest constructed in a hanging flower pot.

A friend and his family are documenting this nest site on their front porch. SEE the nest when first discovered.

A healthy backyard habitat gives back to you in living treasures.

Program on Island Fox and the Role of Field Biologists

California's Channel Island fox is making a strong comeback thanks to the joint efforts of government agencies, private organizations and the general public. Conservation efforts include annual capture of island foxes to count their numbers and provide them with health checks. Join me at:

Placerita Nature Center
8:30 - 9:30 AM,
Saturday June 19th

In my role as V.P. of Education for Friends of the Island Fox, I'll be giving a program exploring why the island fox became endangered and what actions were taken to save them. We'll demonstrate how field biologists use radio tracking to monitor island fox health and welfare. And the group will hike a short way into the chaparral for an opportunity to see how island foxes are trapped annually across the islands. Kids will have the opportunity to engage in the steps biologists use to preform a health check on an island fox in the field.

Following there will be a guided hike, lead by representatives from the Placerita Nature Center for those that wish to go on a longer hike.

Join me for a fun opportunity to learn about field biology and the island fox in a beautiful natural setting. This event is FREE and for ages 5 and up.

Identifying A Bird Nesting in a Hanging Pot

Do you have a bird nesting in a hanging flower pot?

After a recent talk I gave on identifying local birds, my friend Shane and his daughter Jenna sent me the following photos of the bird they wanted to identify.

This mourning dove has build a nest in a hanging pot. The dove or pigeon shape of the body, the soft gray coloring, the black beak, and the lack of a marking on the neck or a "collar," help us to identify that this is a mourning dove. This smallish dove is one of the most typically seen birds at bird feeders and in suburbs. Mourning doves don’t mind people and we discourage the presence of their primary predators: hawks and falcons, foxes, bobcats and other small mammalian predators.

Mourning doves build a haphazard, loose nest of twigs. If they can find a cupped location–like a hanging pot– or a secure surface–like the top of a window-mounted air conditioner or a protected roof line under an eave–they will use that human-made location to their benefit. Frequently that means mourning doves nest close to human activities.

This pinkish-gray dove depends on its camouflage coloring to allude predators. Their survival tactic is to remain very still. They trust that if they don’t move, you can’t see them. Don’t be surprised if a nesting dove will sit on its nest as you walk by.

According to birding books, both parents incubate the eggs; taking a shift at a specific time of day. The two white eggs shown here are a typical clutch.

A bird nesting close to your home says that you are providing habitat the bird needs. A protected secure location near food and water. (See nesting Bewick’s wren, Allen’s hummingbird.)

I hope that Jenna and her dad will keep us informed as the mourning doves continue their nesting effort. It would be great to see young mourning doves.

What is in your yard?

Are you interested in learning to identify birds in your yard? Contact me at 4animalbytes@gmail.com

Praying Mantises Emerge

Digging deeper into backyard biodiversity means getting you to look at what is in your backyard too.

This past week we had consecutive days of temperatures in the high 90s F. The praying mantis egg cases seemed to be plumper each day. (This egg case was laid by a female praying mantis that I had caught and used in a class I was teaching last fall.)

Saturday night the low hovered around 60 degrees F. Sunday morning dawned overcast but warm. Everything was just right and the pray mantis juveniles emerged from their egg case leaving behind debris shed as they emerged.

We missed the moment of emergence, but this photo taken by our friend Jessica shows how the praying mantis juveniles hatch all at once. Jessica caught this moment in her yard.

The 4 -5 mm long, tiny praying mantises were dispersing when we saw them. There were 20-30 of them.

We wished them well as they dashed along the grape vine and across the patio supports. Some will become food for birds, lizards and other insects. Hopefully, some will grow up to prey on a variety of insects in the yard and lay their egg casings on twigs to continue the cycle of praying mantises in the yard.

Giving Furniture New Life - Recycling

Has recycling become part of your daily life? For many of us recycling paper, glass, metal and plastic containers has become integrated into our daily practices. More cities and towns participate in curbside recycling of disposables.

But that in itself points at an unsustainable mindset in our current society: that everything is disposable and therefore should be replaced on a regular basis to continue the economic cycle of consuming. We’re trying to move away from that mindset.

A hundred years ago when more people had to make the things they used themselves, they tried to find multiple uses for everything. I have a doll cradle that my great grandfather made for my grandmother when she was a toddler. The wooden planks that he used to maker the doll furniture were recycled from an old carriage.

We have an oak dining room table that we purchased new over 20 years ago. We’ve taken good care of it and the wood is still beautiful, but the upholstery of the chairs is shot. To toss the chairs and purchase something new would be expensive and a waste of oak resources. To dig deeper into a sustainable lifestyle we decided to take on the job of reupholstering our six dining room chairs.

Spending a couple of hours a weekend for the past two months, I’ve been taking apart the chairs and removing the staples that attached the cloth covering. It isn’t a difficult job, just time consuming.

The most important part was having the right tools. Much of the removal of the cloth can be done by cutting it off with a utility knife. The key tool is a special tipped screw driver-shaped staple remover or staple puller. Using the tapered end you pry up the staples. Some staples break off, requiring a pair of pliers to pull them out.

Not all of the staples need to be removed, but the majority did on our chairs because of the tight fit between the inset backs and the wooden frame.
As I’ve gone along I’ve taken notes so that I can follow these notes in reverse to reapply the new fabric.


All of the old upholstery has been removed and the exciting part will be putting the chairs back together.

Upholstery is something I’ve never done before. I hope to have the chairs finished by the end of the month. I’ll keep you posted as we progress.

What big items can you recycle or re-purpose at your house? Where can you stop thinking disposable?

Green Action #6 - Digging Deeper

Sustainability has become the catch word for everything from business markets to politics. But the important use of the term refers to humans living on resources that are replaceable in a manner that can be sustained into the future. Sustainability relates to economics, housing, business practices, education, development, food, clothing, every aspect of our lives. However, it doesn't mean manipulating the marketplace so that there always is a desire for a specific product. It means living in a way that provides a vital, healthy world for humans to live in seven generations from now.

Since January I've been trying to take on one niche of my daily life and to make it more environmentally friendly and sustainable.

• January - Five Green Food Actions
• February - Understanding Local Biodiversity
• March - Everyday Sustainability
  
• April - Gardening With Intent
• May - Bird Conservation

June seems the perfect time to re-evaluate and dig deeper. Too many individuals, institutions and companies have taken on the banner of sustainability, but they have only scraped the surface of green actions and behavior.

So, where have we done well:

I've expanded Veggie Tuesdays and Thursdays to Wednesday as well. The middle of the week I focus on eating lower on the food chain. I've found that the transition has been fairly easy and there are more meals throughout the week that are veggie oriented.

Gardening with the intent to raise more of our own food is rewarding. A bowl of cereal with a handful of blueberries fresh from the bush is not only more tasty, it is also more satisfying.

With only a few plants–zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes–we aren't producing all of our food needs, but we are producing some. We are living closer to our own small bit of land.The biodiversity in the yard continues to grow, entertain and delight us. No, the desert cottontails are not munching on my vegetables. They seem to prefer the "weeds."

I've found soap products based on olive oil and glycerin to replace those using palm oil. We haven't bought any food products with palm oil for 3 months and we don't miss them.

I've been counting bird species for eBird both in my backyard and at our local Serrania Park. In fact, I discovered a blue-gray gnatcatcher pair nesting in an oak tree in the park and on Sunday morning we saw their two chicks fledge from the nest. It was very rewarding. Inali and I have documented nesting Bullock's and hooded orioles, black phoebes, Cassin's kingbirds, western bluebirds, bushtits, oak titmice, scrub-jays and Bewick's wrens all nesting in our local park.

Do you know what wild creatures live in your neighborhood? We've found that learning about our wild neighbors has put us more in touch with the rhythm of life.

We are using fewer resources, it is costing us less, and we don't feel that we are missing out on anything. I can't wait to dig deeper.

Learn to Identify the Birds in Your Yard

Have you ever looked out into your yard and wondered....

What's That Bird?


Saturday, May 29th, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Woodland Hills Public Library

I'll be doing a basic Birding 101 class on how to identify bird species.

Whether you are 8 or 80, you can learn to identify our local birds. We'll be focusing on the fun and understanding our bird neighbors.

Oh, these big birds on my feeder are native band-tailed pigeons. They are locals who need our help. Before the San Fernando Valley became parking lots and housing tracks, before the citrus and walnut orchards, this big birds roamed under oak trees swallowing acorns whole. No oak trees, no food for these local birds. Their numbers were low and declining, but recently they seem to be improving.

Come join me at the Woodland Hills Public Library for a FREE program and activities.