Discarded Cigarette?

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 30, 2009, 10:43 AM. Two LAFD ladder trucks and a small fire engine responded to a grass fire on the 2 Freeway below my home. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Seeing a large cloud of smoke out my rear window and hearing sirens, I immediately thought it was a fire at one of the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract homeless encampments. Luckily, the LAFD made quick work of a grass fire on the 2 Freeway. Usually, there's a vehicle on fire that spread to the brush. No such vehicle was nearby. Nor is this a homeless encampment.

CalTrans did some brush clearance in the medians a few weeks ago, but stopped at this section. You can see the taller grass on either side of the burned area. DO NOT TOSS YOUR CIGARETTES OUT THE WINDOW OF YOUR CAR!

Not California Manroot

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 18, 2009. Jimsonweed seed pods, a native species, should not be confused with native California Manroot. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Corralitas Drive: Hawk Drama

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 27, 2009, 9:43 AM. One of two mystery hawks on Corralitas Drive. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Sunday morning, while walking up Corralitas Drive, I heard a hawk calling rather insistently from the direction of Riverside Terrace & Riverside Drive. At the same time, I noticed another hawk in a tree above me.

When Red Tail Hawks nested off the log cabin decks, the juvenile would often stand on the railing of a deck, calling to be fed. The parent (who was about the same size as the juvenile) would then land in a nearby tree with a good sized rat in its talons and call for the youngster to join it in the tree.

This time however, the hawk in the tree appeared much larger than the second hawk (who was doing the calling). The second hawk flew in tight circles around the tree. It seemed to be harassing the first hawk, who kind of hunched its shoulders trying to appear larger and more menacing. The second hawk landed in the tree, continuing to scream at the first hawk. Both eventually flew off in the direction of the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.

The neighbor whose tree in which the 10 minute drama played out, watched from his deck. We agreed it was unusual to witness such behavior. He said hawks have been hanging around his tree lately. He hoped they were chasing the Mourning Doves away. (Cooper's Hawks prey on Mourning Doves.) Recently, one hawk even landed on the ground in his yard. It may have been a failed hunt.

Sunday, both hawks had black and white horizontal stripes on their tails and wings. According to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website, they could be several different hawk species, and juveniles have different color patterns than adults. Cornell has a good comparison section of similar birds, but without a good photo, it's tough to identify these hawks.

Click here for all our hawk posts.

If you have photos or video of birds of prey, or any other wildlife in the neighborhood, please send them to us, along with any other details you can remember of the encounter: redcarproperty@gmail.com.

I Swear That Bug Is Watching Me

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 18, 2009. Can you see three bugs in the 2-inch long flowers? (Clicking on this photo will not help. It's enlarged from the photo below.)

While editing photos of this (probably native) bush of red-orange flowers still blooming near Adelbert, I noticed what I thought were spiders on one flower.

On closer examination, the bugs are not spiders. The bug peering around the petal on the left, appears to have very long antennae and only one pair of eyes. The bug on the flower's stamen is pointing its rear end to the camera. The third is hidden on the underside of the flower bud.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 18, 2009. Plants that recolonized the Adelbert slide area, seem to be mostly native. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

If you can identify any of the plants or bugs we highlight, please contact us: redcarproperty@gmail.com.

UPDATE 10-2-09: Will Campbell writes, "Your picture reminds me of the assassin bug nymph I found crawling along our kitchen sink around this time last year." See Campbell's awesome photo and read more on his blog: [sic]

UPDATE 10-6-09: Looking at Calflora, the flowers are native California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum ssp.canum).

Sept 29, SLIA Community Meeting: "Coexisting With Our Wildlife"

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 6, 2008. Coyote on the 2 Freeway retaining wall at Rosebud & Allesandro. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Silver Lake Improvement Association will host a community meeting:

"Coexisting With Our Wildlife"
Guest: LA City Wildlife Officer Gregory Randall

Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009
6:30 PM
Location: Russian Orthodox Church
650 Micheltorena St.
(South of Sunset)
Ample Parking Available
Info about this mtg: (323) 664-4653

Meeting will include updates from Silver Lake LAPD Senior Lead Officers, CD13 & CD4.

Click here for more on living with urban wildlife on the City's website.

Click here for all our coyote posts.

How Tough Are Red Car Property Cats?

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 18, 2009. Tough enough to nap in the open. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

I was concerned when I saw Puncher's sister, Rainy, sleeping in the open last week. She did wake up and move away when I walked closer. Like any house cat, she did not want to give up her prime spot in the sun. Rainy is semi-feral and one tough cat, confident napping in the open on the Red Car Property.

Defensive Landscaping: Opuntia Cactus

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 24, 2009. Birds, rats & ants are feeding on Opuntia cactus pears on the Red Car Property near India St. (Click on photo to enlarge and see the ants.)

Opuntia cactus spreads out as it colonizes slopes on the Red Car Property. Since Opuntia stores water in its large pads, it does not burn easily. It makes a good fire break.

Cactus pears are edible. Watch out for the spikes.

Defensive Landscaping: Alien Succulents

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 10, 2009. Tiny waxy flowers sprouted fruit. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Admittedly, the photo above was taken in my driveway. However, the plant itself grew from a clipping taken from the large patch of succulent on the slope above the meadow of the Red Car Property (photo below). While it is a non-native euphorbia-type cactus/succulent, it is noteworthy for its fire resistant qualities.

It grows to a height of around 12-feet, in dense patches of thin reed-like branches. It has no thorny spines, but it produces sticky white goo when pieces break off that burns if it gets in your eyes. It makes good defensive landscaping.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 15, 2009. The succulent patch is ultra lime green in the above photo, taken from the Corralitas Drive cul-de-sac, facing Lake View Ave. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Night Blooming Cereus Cactus

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 21, 2009. Non-native Cereus cactus with an 8-inch flower near the Silver Lake Ave. public staircase. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

An organ-pipe type cactus, once established, Cereus are drought tolerant and defensive landscaping. Night blooming cactus are pollinated by bats and really big moths.

Turkey Vulture Over Corralitas Drive

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 23, 2009, 10:07 AM. Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) soaring over Corralitas Drive. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

While passing a window this morning, I saw an enormous bird flying level with the second story of my home. I grabbed my point & shoot camera and rushed to the street to discover Turkey Vulture circling very low over the Red Car Property and the top of Corralitas Drive. I've never seen a Turkey Vulture fly so low in the neighborhood. When it passed flew directly overhead, I could see its distinctive featherless red head. There was an odor of dead animal out in the street; perhaps it was tracking down a meal.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, Turkey Vulture over Corralitas Red Car Property, the large home is on Silver Ridge Ave. (Click on photo to enlarge.)Late September seems to bring flocks of Turkey Vultures migrating southeast. In the afternoons you see them slowly circling as they come from the direction of Silver Lake Reservoir, over Silver Ridge Ave., Red Car Property, Corralitas Drive, Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract, down the 5 Freeway, then east toward Debs Park. I once counted more than 60 birds in one flock of circling turkey vultures.

Light Reading For The Homeless

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 17, 2009. When the homeless guy abandoned his encampment, he discarded the book, "Business Law: The Global Ethical and E-Commerce Environment." (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Sept. 30 Community Meeting: 18-Acre Elysian Park Parcel

Photo: Diane Edwardson, Spring 2003. 18-Acre Elysian Park Parcel.

The 18 Acre Parcel of Elysian Park, fronting on Riverside Drive between Allesandro and Stadium Way, was acquired in the 1990s using Prop K money. For more on the history of this parcel, see #3 under "Legacy of Failed Development."

The 18 Acre Parcel is the only portion of Elysian Park that is safely accessible by pedestrians from Elysian Valley, Corralitas Red Car Neighborhood and Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract. Our neighborhoods cannot safely access the rest of Elysian Park on foot because there are no sidewalks on Stadium Way. Click here for map.

The environmental review for the park development is finally available on the Rec & Parks website. Deadline for public comment is 3PM October 19, 2009.

The City is hosting a community meeting to review the plans:

Wed., September 30, 2009
6PM
Location: Dickerson Employee Benefits
1918 Riverside Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90039

Info: CD 13 Deputy, Alejandra Marroquin
(323) 957-4500

Autumnal Equinox: 2:18 PM Today

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 17, 2009. Pine cones pile up on the Lake View Ave. side of Red Car Canyon. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Defensive Landscaping

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 18, 2009. American Century Plants (Agave americana) are drought and fire resistant. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

With dumping, late night parties and abandoned stolen cars, is there any wonder why neighbors plant the Red Car Property defensively?

Car Thieves Were Busy This Weekend

Photos: M. Gilvary, September 20, 2009. Two cars stripped and abandoned, same location as last week's Honda, just south of the Silver Lake Ave. public staircase. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

UPDATE 9-21-09: Stripped & abandoned car #3 from this weekend's tally:

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 21, 2009. No plates, VIN, or pretty much anything left inside this car. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

This Plant Says, "Don't Touch!"

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 18, 2009. Non-native American Century Plant (Agave americana) on the Red Car Property near the Silver Lake Ave. public staircase. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Take Your Empty Beer Cans With You!

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 17, 2009. It's not like our neighborhood lacks recycle bins on the streets. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 17, 2009. Of course, neighbors, who persist in piling up dry vegetation (a fire hazard) next to an old car covered with a tarp, don't exactly set a good example for the partiers. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Stalking Littlefoot

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 18, 2009. 4" long Littlefoot print just north of the India St. entrance to the Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Click here for more on Littlefoot.

Two Weeks Later...

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 17, 2009. Two weeks ago, parents at Rose Scharlin called the City to pick up the pile of trash dumped on the Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Beware of Dog

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 15, 2009. Red Car Property near Rose Scharlin Preschool. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Do You Know Where Your Contractor Dumps His Trash?

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 15, 2009. A substantial pile of concrete rubble, pieces of wood and plastic sheeting was shoved downslope from a Lake View Ave. home onto the Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 15, 2009. The pile has been on the slope (where the property narrows into a canyon) for quite some time. Yesterday, the light was just right to see the full extent of the pile. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Neighbors Will Sleep Easier

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 14, 2009. Contractors finally began clearing brush from the Red Car Property's southernmost slopes yesterday. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The initial deadline for brush clearance in the Very High Fire Hazard Safety Zone was May 1. See www.lafd.org/brush/ for details.

Prey

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 19, 2009. Juvenile Mourning Doves, Corralitas Drive. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Mourning Doves always seem to chose your favorite potted plant to nest in. The juveniles hang around the nesting site for weeks, making a mess, even after learning to fly. The large number of Mourning Doves in Red Car Canyon attract Cooper's Hawks, which prey on the doves.

Red Car Property: Another Stolen Honda Abandoned

Photo: S. Williams, September 11, 2009. Stolen & stripped silver Honda Civic adjacent to the Silver Lake Ave. Public Staircase. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

At 1:30AM this morning, I awoke to an LAPD helicopter flying aggressively in tight circles, shining a light on the Red Car Property. When "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" came from the loudspeaker, I thought a stolen car must be involved. The helicopter continued circling the same location for next two hours. After several emails from neighbors this morning, I received photos.
Photo: S. Williams, September 11, 2009. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Two weeks ago, Senior Lead Officer Al Polehonki told the Lake View Neighborhood Watch that most of the stolen cars in the area lately seem to be Hondas. A Honda was stolen on Corralitas Drive last month. Another was abandoned on the Red Car Property on August 24.

A neighbor in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract reports, they've been stripping and abandoning cars up on the hill on Rosebud Ave. A check on EveryBlock Los Angeles reveals a number of stolen cars in the vicinity of the 2 & 5 Freeway intersection in the past 2 weeks. These criminals do seem to know our hillsides well.

RELATED: The Eastsider LA reports police arrest two car burglary suspects in Silver Lake last night.

9-13-09 UPDATE: LAPD Senior Lead Officer Polehonki reports the Honda was hauled away.

Semi Tropic Mess

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 9, 2009. DWP crew searching for the source of water draining from the Modjeska St. right-of-way in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

A fair amount of water was draining from the steep slope, across Rosebud and down Allesandro for about a week. This section of hillside seems to have the same problem every summer. Neighbors did not know if it was a water main or a sewer line, so they reported the leak to CD13 last week.

Do You Know Where Your Contractor Dumps His Trash?

Photo: S. Bartron, September 4, 2009. Clearly, a contractor thinks nothing of dumping a dangerous pile of debris behind Rose Scharlin Preschool, on the Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Photo: C. Weir, September 8, 2009. Debris pile is covered by a tarp so kids won't explore. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Parents of Rose Scharlin students covered the pile of construction rubble dumped on the Red Car Property, directly behind the school, last week. A Rose Scharlin parent (who's also a neighbor) contacted the City to remove the pile of debris.

6 Months Ago...

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 13, 2009. The meadow was green and ladybugs were everywhere. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Labor Day

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 4, 2009. We salute hardworking firefighters for just doing their jobs. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Lake View Ave. Paved in 1926

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 14, 2009. Lake View Ave. at Silver Lake Ave. public staircase. Parts of Lake View have never been repaved and are long overdue. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Arundo is Highly Combustible

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 12, 2009. Arundo on " Lot C" of the Red Car Property (to the left of the property line marker) between Riverside Drive and Adelbert. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Arundo literally explodes when it burns. It is a giant reed, or grass, with hollow chambers in which the gases heat up, until the chamber explodes, spreading fire everywhere. It is a highly invasive weed and not appropriate for our dry, urban hillside environment.

Forthwith is Not a Couple of Fortnights

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 19, 2009. LAFD Brush Clearance Inspector Wieser red tagged the Red Car Property on August 6. The owner still has not cleared brush from the slopes. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Thunderstorm v.s. Firestorm

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 30, 2007, 1:20 PM. Thunderstorms forming over La Canada from Corralitas Drive. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

While shooting photos of the dramatic smoke from the La Canada/Station Fire, I was struck by the similarity to thunderheads that form over the same mountains every summer. A search through my archives turned up a photo, above, I shot almost 2 years ago to the day of the firestorm photo, below. The steep mountains and extreme heat from the fire creates similar weather conditions making the dramatic pyrocumulus clouds of smoke.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 29, 2009, 12:31 PM. Smoke from the La Canada/Station Fire from Corralitas Drive. (Click on photo to enlarge.)