Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Hawkwatch, Another Reason To Document Wildlife Now

Video: Rory Mitchell, Valley Spring Lane, February 3, 2012.  Mitchell first posted the link to this video of the tree carnage on The Eastsider. 

Thursday morning, representatives of City Councilmember Eric Garcetti's office (CD13), Dept of Urban Forestry and the developer's biologist met angry neighbors on site of the controversial 16-lot subdivision in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract. 

The Red Tailed Hawks put on quite a show for the group.  Just as the meeting began, one curious hawk landed in a tree above the group, and hung out for a while.  Almost on cue, as the biologist talked about what what nesting behavior entailed at this time of year - going to & from the nest, refurbishing the nest at the corner of Allesandro & Rosebud with new branches, a hawk demonstrated the behavior for the group.

During the meeting, one neighbor asked the biologist to verbally confirm that the biologist had just witnessed the hawk demonstrating nesting behavior.  The neighbor went on to ask other neighbors and CD13 representative Marcel Porras (all present) to also verbally confirm they also witnessed the nesting behavior.  They all confirmed witnessing the behavior just then.

The biologist (paid by the developer) tried to back-pedal, saying the behavior had to be witnessed and documented over time. He advised neighbors present to take photos of the behavior.   There's currently a cease & desist order out on the development, until a report comes in from their biologist. 

For the past couple of years, I've peronally witnessed and I've gotten reports from neighbors witnessing of hawks swooping down, hunting prey, on the controversial development's slope adjacent to Allesandro in the afternoon - often after 3 PM.  It's hard to get a photo when you're driving on Allesandro.

IF ANYONE CAPTURES PHOTOS OR VIDEO OF THE HAWKS:
Send them to us immediately, to post here on the Red Car Property Blog, redcarproperty@gmail.com.  Please include time, date, location and what you observed the hawks doing.  Any photos of hawks in the vicinity are of interest - they do not have to be high quality. 

Please remember to also take a wide angle shot right at the same time so we can identify the location (click this link for an example.)  We need to document these things as best we can. 

Please include contact info (which can remain publicly anonymous if you prefer, but we may need further info from you, and it helps our case if multiple neighbors witness the behavior.) 

We are always interested in Red Car Property Neighborhood wildlife photos.  Use the guidelines above and send them to redcarproperty@gmail.com. 

There's a well-established and documented hawk nest, high in a eucalyptus tree, on the corner of Rosebud & Allesandro for more than a year. (I think it's been there for years, because I've seen hawks fly in and out of that tree for many years.) It's less than 100' from the development site. According to the terms of approval for the controversial 16-lot development, they have to suspend work in a 300 foot radius of known active raptor nests during nesting season. Nesting season began February 1.

Click here for all our hawk related posts.