Corralitas Drive: Baby Skunk Season

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 27, 2012, 10:22 PM.  The baby skunk was about 6" long with a tail about twice that size.  (Click on photos to enlarge.) 

After watching Stampy head for the opposite end of the yard, and aware that it's baby skunk season, I figured I should check the yard before taking the dog out. I heard chattering and stamping around in the leaves in the upper part of the yard.   Sure enough, 2 baby skunks were playing and foraging for Rubber Tree beans.   

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 27, 2012, 10:45 PM.  The 2 baby skunks had no fear, running towards me, despite the camera flash.  Only when I stood up did they turn and prance off in the opposite direction. 

At this size, they can only make skunk farts, not a full spray.  These 2 are far more bold than last year's skunks.  I guess Stampy heading for the other end of the yard was meant as a decoy to distract me from the babies. 

If you feed your pets outside, pick up their food bowls immediately after they eat.  Do not feed or attempt to touch wildlife.  Learn more about living with skunks and other urban wildlife on the City's Animal Services' website. 

Corralitas Drive: Meet Stampy

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 27, 2012, 10:08 PM.  Stampy is a regular visitor to our yard.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Stampy is a very small skunk, but not a baby.  In fact I wonder if she's a dwarf.  Usually, the skunks in this neighborhood are very large.  We called her Stampy because she stamps around like a big animal in the crunchy leaves in the yard.  I wonder if she's the same skunk I shot photos of last summer.  She is a very pretty skunk.

Luckily for me, she is still unclear on the concept of pointing the business end at me when I'm taking photos.  She seems to be foraging for beans fallen off the rubber trees that all the other neighborhood wildlife eat too. 

Red Car Property: 1960 Brush Fire

Photo: Antonio Futterer, Holyland Exhibition, 1960.  Grass fires on the Red Car Property can quickly speed up the steep slopes.  In the background, are Lake View Ave & Silver Ridge Ave (shot from above the southern end of the Red Car Property).  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The LAPD sent out an alert earlier this month saying ALL fireworks are illegal (outside of professional shows) in the City of Los Angeles.  Anyone who's lived in the area long knows little can be done to curb the onslaught of huge airborne explosive fireworks in the area.  

However, if you see anyone shooting fireworks off in the neighborhood, CALL 911 immediately.  Fireworks in our hillside neighborhood are a disaster waiting to happen.  Be sure to tell the 911 operator this is a dry hillside neighborhood (where the City has failed to enforce the brush clearance regulations).  

Click here for all our brush clearance related posts.

Corralitas Drive: Red Tailed Hawk Pestered By Hummingbird

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 6, 2012.  The adult male was slowly flying low circles, scoping the hillside for prey, while a hummingbird (look closely: the small blur of wings in the lower left of photo) harassed him.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Click here for all our hawk posts.



Corralitas Public Staircase: Fence Lizard

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 24, 2012.  Fence Lizards are not aggressive toward intruders like Alligator Lizards.  This one was just playing dead; it moved once I stepped over it.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Learn more about lizards in California: California Herps

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Last Red Tailed Hawk Baby Took Off June 15

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 15, 2012.  This may be the last photo of Red Tailed Hawk Baby #4 in the nest.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

In years past, the Red Tails continued to use the nest for months after the babies fledged.  It was centrally located between Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract and the Red Car Property.  It was also well situated for the youngsters to catch the afternoon winds and updrafts from the 2 Freeway.  They also hung around the area on both the Semi Tropic & Corralitas sides of the 2 Freeway to learn to fly, feed and hunt, months after they took flight.

Since the babies fledged in the past few weeks, we have not seen much of the hawks at all.  Even the adults aren't around.  I'm speculating the extreme noise of the grading machinery and back-up horns on the controversial 16-lot subdivision in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract forced them to find another neighborhood to raise the youngsters (who will stay with the adults for the next few months).  

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 14, 2012.  Of course, the CalTrans tree contractors didn't help.  The day after the CalTrans trimming, Baby #4 seemed to take off and not return.

Several months ago, we had to involve Assemblymember Cedillo's office to ensure the tree with the nest (on CalTrans property) was not cut down.  Last month, CalTrans tree contractors showed up to do the much needed tree trimming on the Corralitas side of the 2 Freeway.  The contractors were unaware of the hawk nest, despite earlier documentation. 

Another round of emails and phone calls ensued, and we negotiated an agreement for them to trim the center section on the Rosebud overpass since the hawks were already dealing with the noise on the construction site - less than 100' away.  The trees had some dangerous looking broken branches since the December 1, 2011 windstorm.  They did not do any trimming on the Allesandro side (where the nest was). 

We have no idea where the babies are, if they are hanging out together or how many are even still alive.  Last year the 2 fledglings hung around together for months.  Clearly, the inability to hear each other's calls over the machinery is having an effect on the hawks' behavior.

The City's construction regulations call for a quiet zone of 500' radius from nesting raptors.  No wonder we only occasionally see the Red Tails anymore - they're probably trying to get as far from this noisy and deforested neighborhood as possible. 

Click here for all our Red Tailed Hawk nest videos from 2012.

Click here for all our hawk posts. 

Corralitas Public Staircase: Check Out Those Spikes On His Hind Legs!

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 20, 2012. GAAHHHH!  At least the 4" long Grasshopper is eating the non-native, invasive, highly toxic Castor Bean plants that have taken over the Corralitas Public Staircase. (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Red Car Canyon: Brush Fire Waiting To Happen*

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 15, 2012.  Debris from the December 1, 2011 windstorm is still a good 12' high in the wooded canyon between Corralitas Drive, Riverside Place & Lake View Ave.  (Click on photos to enlarge.) 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 15, 2012.  As far back as December, and routinely since April, neighbors have been asking City Councilmember Garcetti's CD13 staff  and the LAFD to have the dry debris hauled away.  No response yet.  

Somehow, there never seems to be a penalty for the Red Car Property owner for putting the entire neighborhood at risk of fire.  Yet, if you don't do your brush clearance on your Hillside lot with a home on it, you will be cited and fined by the LAFD. 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 15, 2012. Recently, a Lake View Ave neighbor had their rear fence (adjacent to the wooded canyon) replaced.   Why haul away the old fence?  Just dump it on the Red Car Property with all the other debris.

The LAFD Brush Clearance Unit is unlikely to cite the owner since technically the vacant lots on our side of town fall under the City Dept of Lot Cleaning's jurisdiction. But Lot Cleaning never does the slopes nor trims the trees up from the ground according to LAFD standards for Hillside lots in the VHFHSZ.  If a fire were to start in this canyon and damage or destroy adjacent homes, the City should be held liable, along with the property owner. 

Lot Cleaning came out a few weeks ago with a giant rototiller on the back of a bulldozer and did a portion of the brush clearance at the south end of the Red Car Property off Corralitas Drive.  They just went around one of the earlier dumped vegetation piles, without even chewing it up with the rototiller.

Recently, at personal expense, a couple of neighbors removed the piles of construction debris and vegetation that had been dumped further south in the canyon.  They understand the presence of debris piles only attracts more dumping (as evidenced in the above photos).  However, this is above and beyond the scale of those debris piles. 

The Assessor's Parcel Number (APN) for this lot on the Red Car Property is 5440-030-033 (the long narrow lot, not the squarish one).

LAFD Brush Clearance Unit: http://lafd.org/brush/

City Councilmember Eric Garcetti, CD13: http://cd13.com/ 

Click here for all our brush clearance posts.

Click here for the Dec 1, 2011 windstorm posts (documenting the downed trees).

Click here for reminder of why some area streets have "No Parking on Red Flag Days."

*UPDATE 6-22-12: A number of neighbors and I received an email response from CD 13 Silver Lake Deputy Ryan Carpio, this afternoon.  CD13 is working with LAFD, City Dept of Lot Cleaning, Building & Safety and the City Attorney to resolve the brush clearance issue. 

Diane's opinion: Until a City Councilmember has the balls to stand up to the City Department of Lot Cleaning and tells them to give up jurisdiction of the vacant Hillside lots in the Northeast (the areas added to the VHFHSZ around the year 2000) to the LAFD Brush Unit, these problems will continue on our side of town.

Summer Malaise

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 6, 2012.  How did you spend the first day of Summer?  In case you missed it, it was yesterday.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Glendale Blvd: Road Closure Update

Map: DWP.  River Supply Conduit Lower Reach 4 Improvement Project causing traffic and trouble breathing in the neighborhood north of Fletcher on Glendale Blvd.  (Click on image to enlarge.)

DWP sent out an email late Tuesday announcing temporary no right turn from Fletcher onto Glendale Blvd starting Wednesday. Copied directly from the email:

Temporary lane closure of right-turn lane on Fletcher Drive starting June 20: Construction activities will require a temporary closure of the right-turn lane from Fletcher Drive onto Glendale Boulevard, which will be in effect:

June 20-22: 8 am to 5 pm

June 25  at 7 a.m. through June 27 at 6 a.m.

If necessary, the right-turn lane closure may be extended to include:

June 27-29: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

June 30: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

More Info: www.ladwp.com/RSC4

Related Glendale Blvd traffic news: The Eastsider

Adelbert All-Weather Lounge: It's Back!

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 17, 2012.  Just the other day, I was pondering the fate of the Adelbert All-Weather Lounge.  It seemed to disappear after its last appearance in January.  Someone must have tossed it down the slope at the historic viaduct footings, as it's now a part of the guerrilla garden behind the Arco Station.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Click here for all our Adelbert All-Weather Lounge posts.

2 Freeway at Rosebud Ave: Blue Elderberries

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 6, 2012.  Native Blue Elderberries (Sambucus mexicana) are both in bloom & fruit throughout the neighborhood, including under the 2 Freeway on Rosebud Ave.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

According to CalFlora, citing the California Poison Control System, the plant is majorly toxic but the ripe fruit is not.  Eat at your own risk.

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control, on the issue of toxicity. We often get email suggesting some plants are edible. If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Creepy Fog

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 17, 2012, 7:44 AM.  Elysian Heights disappeared into an eerie fog this morning; it looked a bit like nuclear winter.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Red Car Property: Giant Grass Near Historic Viaduct Footings

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 6, 2012.  Although it doesn't look so gigantic here, those flower stalks are 6-8 feet tall.  I have no idea what this grass is, but it's spreading over the  mostly shady hillside just past the historic viaduct footings on the Red Car Property. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Red Car Property: Tree Cut Down Near Adelbert In April, A Fire Hazard Now

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 6, 2012.  Someone cut down a 16' Eucalyptus Tree back in April (possibly in the Adelbert right-of-way, but generally accepted as Red Car Property).  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Today, this tree is a huge fire hazard as it is now dry, brush has not been cleared from the Red Car Property, nor have the trees been trimmed up from the ground properly in many years. 

Although, it is not as bad as it used to be 12 years ago, before we were added to the Very High Fire Hazard Safety Zone.  However, the vacant lots in our part of town do not fall under the Fire Department's jurisdiction.  Instead the City Dept of Lot Cleaning comes out with a bulldozer and a giant rototiller but never clears the slopes of dry weeds, nor trims the trees per the Fire Dept's regulations (like you have to clear your lots to).  And somehow, the lot owner never faces consequences for this negligence.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 10, 2012.  In case there was any doubt the tree was cut down...

This one tree is nothing compared to the 12' high pile of dead trees and branches that went down in Red Car Canyon in the December 1, 2011 windstorm.  Despite requests to CD13 since December and numerous requests, since April, from neighbors on Corralitas Drive, Lake View Ave and Riverside Place, those trees still have not been cleared out.

Click here for all our brush clearance related posts. 

Click here for the LAFD Brush Clearance Unit.

"The Gentle Art Of Wandering:" Author's Talk At Arcadia REI Store Tonight

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 28, 2012.  Wandering the Red Car Property is challenging at times.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

David Ryan, author of "The Gentle Art of Wandering," will  give a talk at the Arcadia REI tonight at 7PM. 

Ryan credits this blog as helping him wander Los Angeles Public Staircases and find history in places like the Red Car Property.

Red Car Canyon: Mystery Walnut, Perhaps Not

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 12, 2012.  For the past 2 years, we've tried to identify this tree.  It's not Southern California Black Walnut; this tree has much larger leaves and fruit.  (Click on photos to enlarge.) 

The squirrels always go nuts for this fruit.  It's 3 times the size of the native Southern California Black Walnut.

A reader from Northern California suggested it might be California Buckeye.  Since the squirrels always stripped all the fruit before it matured, I had to wait until it flowered.  I missed the flowering last year.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 7, 2012.  This year's flowering proved it was not California Buckeye, but a walnut species.  I'm speculating it's Juglans nigra, or Eastern Black Walnut. 

See our post from July 10, 2010 for a cross section of the fruit.

The fruit matches the Juglans nigra fruit seen on the Missouri State University website.

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Red Tailed Hawk Baby #4 Still In Nest

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 13, 2012, 4:53 PM.  Despite the lack of activity on the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract today, the hawks were quiet again today.  Although I did see adults come and go from the nest several times today.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Red Tail Hawk Babies Not So Willing To Leave The Nest

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 11, 2012, 11:00 AM.  Monday, Red Tail Baby #3 was in and out of the nest all day.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

I didn't realize we were looking at 2 babies until I enlarged the photos.  We thought we were down to the last chick on Monday.  The adult female kept returning to the nest as if she was not confident in their readiness to leave the nest.  Whenever she was in the nest, the babies were calmer and settled down into the nest.  

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 11, 2012, 11:01 AM.  This photo you can see #4 in the nest a bit more clearly. 

Tuesday, June 12, # 4 was alone in the nest.  While the grading crew on the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract was on lunch break, the machinery was quiet and #4 was calling constantly.  From at least 2 other trees - on the Corralitas side of the 2 Freeway, I could hear 2 other hawks calling back. 

Since we've not seen any of the hawks much since the babies started flying, I walked down the street to see if I could find them with binoculars.  Within minutes, the adult female returned to the nest and stared at me.  I was standing at the top of the Corralitas public staircase.  I don't know where she had been.  A few minutes later the bulldozers started work again and drowned out the hawks' calls.



Corralitas Drive: Don't Judge Him By His Size

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 11, 2012.  A very slender (my pinkie finger width), 6" long, pale green Alligator Lizard was hiding under the green bin in the backyard.  (Click on photos to enlarge - yeah the quality isn't good, but it was just so amusing.)

The lizard immediately jumped at the camera, hissing, puffing up and showing his ferocious mouth - definitely Alligator Lizard behavior.  We had never seen one so pale green before. He must do well in the light green plants in the yard.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 11, 2012.  After a few seconds of threats, he ran into the nearby succulents, mouth agape, hissing at me the whole way.  It was really hard to hold the camera steady while laughing so hard. 

Learn more about Alligator Lizards: California Herps

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Grading Noise Affecting Red Tailed Hawk Behavior

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 8, 2012, 10:51 AM.  The deafening sound of giant grading machinery on is changing the way the Red Tails raise their young.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

(I'd like to also point out the scale of the grading equipment next to the adjacent house in the above photo.)

In years past, the sound of hawk calls was like clockwork in May, June & July.  At least 3 times each day you would hear the adults calling to announce they'd caught food, stopping at their favorite feeding perches, before heading to the nest.  Later as the young fledged and began to fly, the adult would call to the fledglings to meet at those perches to be fed.  As time went on, the young knew to sit near one of those perches, calling to the adults to bring them food.  It happened so regularly, you could set your watch by it. 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 8, 2012, 10:51 AM.  This year, the calls are drowned out by the extreme noise of the grading equipment on the controversial 16-lot subdivision in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.  If you set foot on the street at the corner of Allesandro & Rosebud, while the heavy machinery is operating, it's very, very loud.  And noise travels up.  The nest is 80' above the street level.  It's impressive the hawks didn't abandon their nest. 

Clearly, this is why the City has a rule requiring construction sites have a "quiet zone" within a 500' radius of nesting raptors.  (The entire site is within 500' radius of the nest.)  Of course, in true City of Los Angeles style, the rule calls for the developer's paid consultant to set the mitigations for the noise, without public review.  (This is despite nesting raptors being a consideration under CEQA.)  So we have no idea what was recommended.  If this had been a more sensitive species, like Cooper's Hawks, we may have had more of a bargaining point on the noise issue.  But, without a supportive City Councilmember, the public has no power. 

The developers and their biologist consultant said we shouldn't complain because we live next to the freeway. 

Well, living next to the 2 Freeway is a lot different than enduring constant rumbling of machinery and back-up horns sounding on multiple vehicles ALL DAY LONG, 5 days a week.  Freeway traffic noise is generally limited to a few hours each morning on the 2 Freeway.  The day-long traffic noise is more like the ocean.  (Really, that's how you convince yourself to put up with it.) 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 8, 2012, 10:51 AM.  It looks like the female is feeding the 2 remaining babies that had not fully fledged yet.  We have not seen all 4 babies together since the first 2 started flying last week.  Nor have we figured out where they might be hanging out. They are not using any of the regular feeding perches.  Nor have we seen the adults hanging out on any of their favorite trees since they first two babies left the nest. 

As of yesterday, June 10, there was only one remaining baby in the nest. (You may remember it was quite a surprise to see the 4th baby, long after we thought we had only 3 in the nest.)  It seems to have a good amount of fluffy feathers left on its head, so it may be a few more days before it takes flight.  I did see one of the adults feeding the chick Sunday morning.

The female seemed to be staying near the chicks still in the nest.  The last 2 to hatch were much smaller than the first 2. 

Perhaps the female was testing if she could be heard over the grading noise when I heard her calling for a half hour below my house, about 10 days ago.  Since then, I've heard very few calls from the nest and a few from the adults.  Nothing anywhere near their normal behavior.  Even on the quiet weekends they are not calling they way they did in years past. 

So, yes, there is a reason for the 500' radius quiet zone for nesting raptors.

   

Red Car Property: Native Spanish Lotus Blooming Near Adelbert

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 8, 2012.  Spanish Lotus (Acmispon americanus) flowers are so tiny, you have to get down on the ground to see them.  The plant itself is 6 to 8" tall. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Red Car Property: Non-Native, Invasive Near India & Silver Lake Court

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 6, 2012.  It's a good guess this is a non-native Thistle, as most of the native varieties have different seed pods.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Red Tailed Hawk Baby #3 Will Soon Be Flying

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 8, 2012, 5:21 PM.  All day today, Baby #3 has been branching, flapping its wings and hopping over its sibling (Baby #4 is sitting down in the nest, tail toward the camera), and onto nearby branches.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Shortly after I shot this photo, one of the adults was feeding the two remaining babies in the nest.  I'm not sure where the first 2 chicks are.  The extreme noise of grading on the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract has radically changed this nesting pair of Red Tails behavior.  This weekend, we'll be observing the hawks to see if they return to their old pattern when its quiet.

See video of Baby #1's flight adventures:

June 3, 2012

June 4, 2012

Red Car Property: Scenic & Defensive Landscaping

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 28, 2012. Non-native Opuntia Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) colonize and thrive on our dry hillsides, offering a fire and criminal resistant landscape.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Elysian Park: 888 Units Coming Soon, If You Don't Act Now

Barlow Respiratory Hospital, a 50 bed facility, wants to change their zoning to allow a ridiculous number of market rate residential units and 15,000 Square feet of commercial use, in addition to an upgraded hospital on the historic landmark site in the middle of Elysian Park. (Click on image to enlarge.) 

Deadline for comments on the Draft environmental Impact Report is June 11, 2012. 

Get involved, learn more: http://saveelysianpark.org/

There's a Citizens' Committee to Save Elysian Park meeting tonight at 7PM at Barlow Hospital's Williams Hall.

See also: The Eastsider

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: First Red Tail Hawk Fledgling Flew The Coop

Video: Gary Vlahakis, June 4, 2012.  A day after a perilous journey from the nest, the largest of the 4 Red Tailed Hawk babies (also known as eyases) took off.  (Best viewed in full screen HD, Blogger resets the video on this page to lowest resolution.)

Gary's been combing through hours of footage and watching through binoculars, to see if the hawk came back to the nest.  So far we've not seen it.  Nor have we seen it in the surrounding tree branches.  This morning, the remaining 3 babies were still in the nest, although the second one is "branching," hopping around on the adjacent branches, flapping its wings, gaining strength to fly. 

Red Tails will hang around the nest for months, being fed and learning to hunt, once they learn to fly.  Last year they put on quite a show through July.  It will be interesting to see if all 4 babies make it.

If you find a hawk on the ground, it may not be injured.  If it is not in the roadway, leave it it on the ground and observe it until you can verify whether it is actually injured.  We had to rescue a fledgling in 2005; his leg was broken.  If the hawk makes it to a nearby branch, the parents will be keeping an eye on it and will continue to care for it.

If a hawk is injured contact LA Animal Services who will likely refer you to the Ojai Raptor Center (805) 667-4727.  The Ojai Raptor Center rehabbed & released the hawk we rescued in 2005.  An expert will guide you through what needs to be done.  The Audubon Center at Debs Park is another resource for information.

For an even better view of nest activity, check out the live Cornell University Red Tail Hawk Cam. Their 3 Red Tails Hawks are fledging too.

Click here for all our Red Tailed Hawk nest videos.

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Those Trees Didn't Count

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 1, 2007.  None of those trees on the Allesandro Street frontage counted toward the tree replacement ratios in the 60 native and significant trees to be removed in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract controversial 16-lot subdivision, approved in 2009.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 1, 2012.  Well, that's certainly an improvement. 

Trivia: in the 2007 photo and as late as early 2011, what's noted in the first photo as "Sunflower Ave" is now "Rosebud Ave."  When this changed in 2011, we should have taken it as a sign that someone was getting ready to build.

Corralitas Drive: Non-Native, Invasive, Exotic

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 25, 2012.  Passion Flower vine is another alien predator looking to take over.  However it is a welcome visitor in our yard.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

See other Passion Flower species on Corralitas and the Red Car Property.

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Venturing From The Nest Is Risky!

Video: Gary Vlahakis, June 3, 2012.  The largest of the Red Tailed Hawk babies ventures out of the nest, quite a ways up a branch, flapping its wings, hopping around, trying to fly.  The nest is about 80' from the street below.   Things get very dramatic around 5:45 minutes: the chick attempts to fly back to the nest, misses and hangs upside down from the edge of the nest, while the other 3 chicks freak out.  Worth watching to the end.  (Best viewed in full screen HD, Blogger automatically resets this page to the lowest resolution.) 

In 2005, we rescued a Red Tail fledgling on Corralitas Drive, when it fell out of the nest, breaking a leg. 

Click here for all our Red Tailed Hawk nest videos.

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Red Tail Hawk Babies Watch Grading Vehicles Like TV

Video: Gary Vlahakis, June 1, 2012.  The giant earth moving vehicles operating on the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract provide some stimulation for the urban hawks.  (Best viewed in full screen HD, Blogger automatically sets this page to the lowest resolution.)

Red Car Property: Defensive Landscaping

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 26, 2012.  Night blooming Cereus Cactus flowers are often still open before the sun hits them on the Red Car Property near the Silver Lake Ave Public Staircase.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

You'll find a mix of pointy Agaves and Cereus near the Silver Lake Ave Public Staircase.  Both are non-native, but drought tolerant plants, in addition to being good choices for criminal & fire resistant landscaping.

Click here for all our neighborhood defensive landscaping posts.

18 Acre Elysian Park Parcel: Reminder, Keep Your Dogs On A Leash

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 28, 2011.  Diego demonstrates you can still have fun with other dogs on-leash at the 18-Acre Elysian Park Parcel.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

A week ago, an off-leash Pit Bull "puppy" attacked an on-leash 25 pound poodle mix on the 18 Acre Elysian Park Parcel off Riverside Drive between Newell & Stadium Way. 

Read the whole story: The Eastsider