Allesandro & Rosebud: Red Tailed Hawk Feeding Babies

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, May 30, 2011.  As Gary watched, one of the Red Tailed Hawks landed and fed a rat or gopher to the fluffy white babies in the nest.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 


We've seen at least 2 babies in the nest at the corner of Allesandro and Rosebud.  Considering we're watching from several hundred feet across the 2 Freeway from Corralitas Drive, this is a great shot of the nest.

Corralitas Drive: Mourning Cloak Butterfly

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 10, 2011.  According to UC Irvine, this is a Mourning Cloak Butterfly.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Fellow Silver Lake blogger Will Campbell also got a great shot of one recently.  

It seems like there are way more butterflies around the Red Car Neighborhood this year.  Perhaps its because we've had fairly mild weather for late Spring.  There have been lots more Swallowtails, including Tiger Swallowtails around too.   

Corralitas Drive: Baby Skunks Active In Daylight

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 23, 2011, 6:23 PM.  Last week, my neighbor called me over to see two 5" long skunk babies next to her garage crawlspace.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

When the mother skunk saw my neighbor come out the back door, the skunk immediately picked up one of the babies by the back of the neck and raced to the other side of my neighbor's garage.  They disappeared into the crawlspace on the opposite side of the garage, where the panel had been pushed open, just enough for small animals to fit through. 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 23, 2011, 6:23 PM.  The two babies left behind, stayed put and called to their mother from the chicken-wire covered panel to the garage crawlspace.  Clearly their mother was under the garage.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

The mother must have returned later to retrieve the babies once the coast was clear.  Even my neighbor's cat wanted nothing to do with the skunks.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 1, 2011, 6:10 PM.  I heard something foraging in the leaf litter in my yard, I discovered an 8" long baby skunk with a tail almost twice his size.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Another Skunk Tale:

Monday, around 5 PM, my dog was growling at something from inside the house.  I arrived at the window just in time to see a 6" long baby skunk, 6" tail held high, casually pronking along the patio, en route to the sideyard fence.  Of course, my camera was upstairs at the time. 

I'm well aware of the nearby cat-sized hole in the fence (we're hoping the fox will use it).  The mother skunk and babies mush have gone through ahead of the last baby, who didn't bother climbing up to the hole in the fence.  The baby fit easily through one of the chain links. The baby bounced around joyfully on the iceplant and disappeared into my neighbor's thick vegetation.  

Read more about living with skunks and other urban wildlife on the City's Animal Services website.

Click here for all our skunk posts.

Corralitas Drive: Log Home Living Brings You Closer To Nature

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 1, 2011, 2:53 PM.  Who needs gargoyles?  Gary's got Red Tailed Hawks.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Corralitas Drive: Hawkwatch

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, May 31, 5:21 PM.  Yesterday afternoon, I noticed one of the Red Tailed Hawks perched on my neighbor's deck railing, scoping out the hillside below for prey.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

I called my neighbor, Gary, and he quietly grabbed his camera and started shooting photos from his back door.  The hawk let Gary snap some photos, and then flew 20' off the deck to Gary's tree.  The hawk continued to hang out for about an hour, looking for prey, preening and ignoring the constant harassment of a mockingbird.

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, May 31, 2011, 5:29 PM.  We're wondering if this is the same hawk that used to hang out on the decks of the log cabins six years ago.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

He seems to be quite at home on the railing or the tree and doesn't mind Gary shooting photos.  Keep in mind, their adult feathers differ from their adolescent feathers.

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, June 25, 2005.  In 2005 on a number of occasions, I watched one of the recently fledged chicks screaming to be fed for hours at a time, while hanging out on the decks of the Corralitas log cabins. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

One of the parent hawks would eventually arrive with a freshly killed rat or gopher.  The parent would sit in the nearby tree and call to the baby to fly over to get the rat.  The parent refused to come to the railing.  The screamfest would go back an forth for about ten minutes, before the baby would give up and fly 20' to the tree for a meal. 

Click here for all our hawk posts.

Learn more about Red Tailed Hawks on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website. 

As of last week, we can see at least 2 white fluffy babies in the nest. The adults hawks are almost constantly hunting for prey on the Red Car Property, Corralitas, Allesandro and the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.  Keep your cameras handy and send us your Red Car Neighborhood hawk photos: redcarproperty@gmail.com.