Raven Jake Dawes

The CPP Caiman

That feller on the left sometimes goes by the handle Fabio, not so much for his hair, which ain't much, but because of his tendency to strike a pose. The feller on the right is yours truly, Raven Jake.

Fabio is a 15-year-old spectacled caiman who lives in the BioTrek Rainforest at Cal Poly Pomona. I had a nice meeting with the director of the facility, Michael Brown, got to visit with the residents, and generally had a good old time hanging out in the rainforest, playing some indigenous musical instruments and walkin' around looking at stuff. 

If you happen to be involved in K-12 education, I can't recommend a school tour through this facility too highly! Far as I know, it's the only one of it's kind south of Montreal, and the California ethnobotany garden can't be beat either.

More Hummies!

"Coincidence" sure is a funny thing.  For example, in spite of having two hummingbird feeders , more flowering plants than you can shake a stick at, and biblical numbers of hummingbirds in the yard, we ain't ever had a nest. 

But sure enough, just as our hummie kids are growin' up and movin' out, Our friends Jason and Rachel got a hummie family of their own. This one on a wind chime about a foot away from their front door. Much the same set up as ours. Kind weird.

Well, they've got another four weeks of wondering whether or not it's ok to use the front door, keepin' an eye on the cats, and debating whether to leave the porch light on or turn it off - it's motion activated. Being a vicarious bird parent can be exhausting. Somehow the birds manage it, though. Rachel thinks there might be a second jellybean in the nest now; it's been just over a week. Won't be long before they hatch out and this party gets started.

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The hummies have left the building

Hummingbird Chicks!

The hummies have left the building

Near as we can figure, that hummingbird probably started nest construction while we were out in the desert, round about the weekend of April 20-21. Not sure, 'cause we didn't even see the nest (despite the fact that it was on the lamp chain near the front door) until sometime later that week. Didn't think there were any hummie kids in that nest either - they were real quiet and their mom was never around. Then a couple of weeks ago they started getting big and on Monday - Memorial Day - they just up and moved out. Gotta admit I was expecting a little more practise flying and whatnot, but no - bam, they were gone. Down below is the runt lookin' around a little before making his move. Ain't been back since. Good luck and god's speed, little hummies.

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Hummingbird Chicks!

Hummingbird Chicks!

Y'all, when we came back from the desert a few weeks back, we were kind of surprised to note that there seemed to be an inordinate amount of hummingbird activity on the front porch. Turns out one of 'em had built her nest in the lamp chain, which is a pretty unlikely spot for a bird's nest but it is well-protected and pretty much predator proof. That bird gave me fits. If she'd been a human mom, I would'a called Child Protective Services and had her hauled off to jail. But despite the neglect, the kids are doing fine.  They're starting to feather up (there are two of them) and beak out and they're just as cute as can be. Won't be too much longer before they're flying. 

This article about the ancester of hummies and swifts is kind of interesting

And I stand corrected: it seems that hummingbirds are kind of infamous for building their nests in weird places. This one isn't an isolated case. Seth Inman blog

Aloha Hula Ho'ike 2013

Last weekend, we were lucky enough to be the invited guests of Susan McLeod and her husband Jerry Smith  to Aloha Hula Ho'ike 2013 at the Orpheum Theater downtown. The Orpheum has had a major makeover and looks great, by the way. The Ho'ike showcases the work of the Aloha Hula Dance Studio in Granada Hills where Susan has been taking lessons over the past few years. What an amazing show - 300 dancers on the stage and around 2,000 people in the audience. Three hours of Polynesian dance. All the girls did a terrific job - even the little teenies. I was pleased that a lot of boys are getting into dance - dance class was one of my favorite things as a youngster, and boy did I take some heat for it. Good to see things are changing. Of course, the best offence is an awesome Haka -  just ask the New Zealand All-Blacks. 

The San Dimas Ho'olaule'a is comin' up on June 8-9 and it goes to support the San Dimas Canyon Nature Center

Third Hummie Rescue

This feisty little guy was my third rescue of the season, and I hope the last. Soon as the webs cleared his toes, he was flying high. Apparently, this has been a boom year for hummingbirds - my client says there have never been as many flying into the studio, although it has happened before. Maybe they're just crazy from the heat...

Another hummingbird rescue

Two in one week. Fortunately, both had happy outcomes. The worst of it wasn't spider webs on the wings or even the head - it was webs tangling up their little feet. Can't shake it off, can't land; these little guys were in trouble.

So the trick is to get those webs off the toes without snapping one off, or traumatizing the bird into a heart attack. Fortunately, these patients are very compliant and I had them fixed up in pretty short order. Fly safe, hummies.

The Feral Parrots of the San Gabriel Valley (Amazona viridigenalis)

Through most of the summer,  we got screeched awake every morning by nature's alarm clock, the Red-crowned Amazon,  Amazona viridigenalis  also known as the Red-crowned Parrot, Green-cheeked Amazon, or  Mexican Red-headed Parrot.  Apparently they're endangered in their native northeastern Mexico, but they're pretty plentiful up here in the  San Gabriel Valley.

I ain't complaining - much, but these guys get up early and they love to talk. This particular one was getting ready to chow down in a tree near my "office," so I snapped a pic.  There are a few different parrot species flyin' around LA County, but these are the ones I see the most. If you're waking up to screechin' in the early hours, might be it ain't your downstairs neighbors. Unless they look like this:

Hummingbird

Now it should come as no surprise to anybody that I'm a big fan of hummingbirds.  Most evenings, we sit out on the porch watchin' them do their hummy thing, but today things were a little off.

I've been building some props for an upcoming photo shoot and the studio I'm workin' at has some big old doors and skylights and from time to time an errant bird flies in and gets confused.  This poor little guy couldn't find his way back out and to make matters worse, he hit a patch of cobwebs that stuck to his tail, feet and finally, wings. Fortunately, when he fell I was there to catch him.

He required a little bit of cleanup to get untangled, but as soon as I took him outside and opened my hand, he flew right off.  I can tell you, I'm sure glad this story had a happy ending.  It's gonna be hot today - probably over 100 degrees - and it sure woulda been sad if this little bird had cooked in a skylight. As it is, he'll be off sipping nectar, buzzing around and maddogging other hummingbirds. Good times.

Garden 2012, Week 13

Folks, those of you who haven't experienced a full-blown  ground squirrel  infestation might think of them as being cute. There's nothing cute about what they're doing to my vegetables, and I have exhausted all diplomatic resources in negotiating a hostage exchange.

Case in point, that picture to the right is all that remains of the zucchini. Malicious damage inflicted by a plague-carrying delinquent.

Below: The California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi). NOT CUTE.

Avaricious is a better word. Squirrel, you're going down.

And over here to the right, evidence that I found at the scene of the crime. Caught you red-handed, varmint.