Sharp-Shinned Hawk

I've come to the conclusion that the hawk that's been visiting the yard and stalking the sparrows and doves is a Sharp-Shinned Hawk.  The other day Jake found the hawk standing on our bench in the backyard.  He was afraid the hawk would carry off the dog, but I don't think it could fly off with a 14 pound terrier!  The males hunt small birds like sparrows and warblers (I see yellow rumped warblers every morning in the eucalyptus trees hunting for insects)  and the females go for larger birds like robins. I'm thinking that this is a female because she is going after birds as large as mourning doves.

We had a "city pigeon" show up a couple of months ago by itself.  I thought that maybe it had been ostracised by it's flock.  It flew in everyday and looked so funny and out of place along side the mourning doves and sparrows and finches.  It's a completely dark grey handsome bird.  I've never seen one quite like it.  A few weeks ago it showed up with a friend.  They've been coming by together ever since.  I believe they're both Rock Doves which were originally introduced by European settlers.  I researched that Rock Doves mate for life until one of them dies.  These two loners somehow found one other and hit it off.  I like to think about what their back story might be...I know it's so terribly anthropomorphic, but I just can't help it.  I have so much respect for city pigeons.  They are truly survivors in this insane human world.

Morning Ritual

Each morning after letting her out, drinking some coffee, waking up a little, Poppy and I feed the birds.  Actually it's more like I put seed out for the dog and the birds get the leftovers.

Poppy follows me around eating the birdseed off the ground like it's the best treat ever.  And it goes right through her...I don't mean to be gross, but it's just too funny to me. She loves it.  I guess I do too, I mean watching her eat bird seed.  The birds line up on the telephone wires and wait until we're finished.  I clean out and refill the water containers for the birds, Poppy drinks some of the water (because of course this whole production is for her) and we go back inside.

The Arrival of the Natives

After spending nearly a day picking them out from the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley, I've just finished planting forty four different varieties of California native plants that attract songbirds, hummingbirds and butterflies in the backyard!  I've created a map of just these new guys below.  I was going to plant seeds, but my patience got the best of me. I'll try the seeds in the Spring...   I had to first harvest the corn and Amaranth.  We ended up with a nice pile of corn and four big bundles of Amaranth seeds that are drying out.  Putting the stalks in the compost I realized we had a resident lizard!  

It took time to design the lay-out of the plants based on size, blooming season and type of bird or butterfly they attract.  I trapped my sister in the yard to go over all of the choices that I'd made.  She approved.  It felt like I was making an enormous painting.  Some of the plants provide nectar, some seed and some shelter.  I dug a three foot hole for each one gallon plant.  I chose two of the hottest days so far this summer to plant which was not the smartest idea on a couple levels, but I got through it in two full days...a little sun burned and sore, but none the worse for wear!  Three feet was probably a bit excessive, but our soil is very slow draining mixture of sand and clay and I wanted to give them the best shot possible considering it was at least 100 degrees out!  

I filled each hole to the top with water and let it drain all the way down once before I filled the bottom of each hole with compost to help with future drainage.  I made a little mote for each plant after it was in the ground and filled it up three times (This is what the TPF advised me to do).  I bought a moisture gauge because I'm afraid I'll over water the plants and drown them.  It's been super helpful. I just don't trust that I'll know when to water based on sticking my finger in the soil up to my second knuckle as recommended.  I really couldn't be more excited about it.  Now I wait and watch.  I read that the first year the natives will sleep, second year they will creep and the third year leap.  

I'm hoping for at least a creep this year.  The Purple Haze Aster has bloomed three days after being planted.  I thought that was a good sign.  Also as a side note, we had our first hummingbird at a penstemon flower two weeks ago and Scrub Jay has been by twice that I know of...once to take a bath!  OK it's five days later now...this morning I interrupted the juvenile hawk that's been hanging around as it was swooping down to grab a dove.  I'm sure it will be back...

   

What's Growing and Who's Showing Up?

The purple plants in the picture are Red Amaranth.  Never having grown Red Amaranth before I generously sprinkled the seeds over the bed at the end of May.  I think every single seed has grown into a plant!  

June 2010

July 2010

My friend Claudia acquired the Red Amaranth as well as two varieties of Mexican Marigolds,  Tlapanche, Papalo, Pipicha, Chipilin and Huazontle seeds (all used and grown by the Aztecs) from Farmlab through their Metabolic Studio Seed Box program, harvested from the Anabolic Monument (created by Lauren Bon). Being that they are all fairly drought tolerant and produce different sizes and variations of flowers and seeds, I thought they were a good choice. I planted them farthest from the hose.  I've been having to cut the Red Amaranth back to allow for the other slower seeds to grow. It seems to be working. 


I've also planted two types of native penstamon that provide nectar for hummingbirds and two varieties of native yarrow, that provide seeds, for birds.  There is a grouping of wildflowers started a year and a half ago that had come from a generic wildflower seed packet.  There are probably ten different varieties of wild flowers growing in this small space.  The cosmos have actually re-seeded themselves outside of the container and are very happy.  I did have a bed of California Poppys that have gone to seed now.  Six sunflowers have seeded themselves in random beds from the wild birdseed mix.  I'm pretty happy about that.  The first one opened up today!

  
I've started two varieties of grapes, a hibiscus plant and have revived three jasmine bushes.  I'm not sure of their variety yet.  There are a number of trees that came with the property.  I haven't been able identify them yet, but I'll post their pictures and maybe someone out there can help me out.  We have a beautiful 15 foot, and several smaller potted Datura bushes with long golden trumpet flowers and a lot of bamboo.  Then we have squash, tomatoes, watermelon, herbs and corn for us humans!  We'll see if the birds are interested too...  There are more plants and trees in the front yard, but my experiment is mainly in the backyard for now.

So far we've been visited regularly by a group of two varieties of humming birds, finches, sparrows, black phoebes, mockingbirds, mourning doves, crows and one large hawk (possibly a juvenile red tailed).  The hawk was going after a mockingbird nest.  The mocking birds in all their characteristic moxie eventually chased it away, but I've seen it scoping things out since.  As far as I can tell the seed eating birds are just eating the bird seed that I put out in feeders and on the ground.  The hummingbirds are also just at the feeders.  The phoebes of course eats insects, and there are definitely more insects around lately.  The finches and sparrows drink from the ground level bird bath/water.  We have a larger birdbath in the front yard that they and the mockingbirds drink from and bathe in.  

One interesting thing that the sparrows and finches do is take dry dirt baths.  They have actually created bird sized indentations in the ground in three areas of the yard!   They look sort of like mini sand dunes. 
Based on this observation I've tried to create other types of areas for them.  


I recently attended a lecture given by John Fitzpatrick of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology   He said that in urban and suburban zones of tidy lawns, there aren't enough dead and dying areas (dead trees full of insects and potential nest cavities and areas of different types of decomposer insects).  In addition many areas lack hiding places.  I've attempted to create several areas of decomposing vegetation, piles of rocks and hiding nooks. 

For my future project plans I'd like to focus on growing more native plants.  I just ordered twenty seed packets of Southern California natives that are known to attract birds from the Theodore Payne Foundation .  I'm going to designate a nursery area for them and start them in flats.  I have much to learn through the process.  Some of the seeds require fire and or soaking in hot water to mimic natural processes.  I will most likely be signing up for a couple classes at the Theodore Payne Foundation to help with my native plant growing and care education.  I will continue to update on the progress.

If I Build It, Will They Come?

As I sit here looking out at the backyard that I share with my boyfriend Jake and our dog Poppy, I see a mix of probably 50 to 75 english sparrows and house finches eating seed, taking dirt baths and drinking and splashing around in the bird bath.  We live three blocks plus the Los Angeles River from the I-5 freeway in Atwater Village.  It’s not the most obvious place for bird watching, but I’m up for the challenge.  I guess you could say I’ve come to phase one in my process of attracting wild birds to, and making art in, our backyard.  And..This is what has led up to phase one:

This project for me started as an experimental proposal for the CGU (Claremont Graduate University) Art Journal. The question Alex Moore and Emily Smith proposed for the journal, “Objective Affection,” was this:

“Typically CGU students are thought of as object makers; that we “find formal solutions to conceptual problems.”  If this is so, why? What is the value of the object? Why is form important? What are the politics of your aesthetic decisions and what are the limitations of the object?

And this was my response to the question:

I built four 12” by 12” square plywood platforms attached horizontally to the top of four 5’ wood poles. I ‘adorned’ each platform and pole combination in a different manner. This ‘adornment’ included rhinestones, sequins, fabric, jewelry, antique china, silver candlesticks, etc.  These objects were affixed securely to the platforms and poles.  I then installed all four in my backyard and added wild birdseed (equal amounts) to the top of each platform. Over the course of a day, I photographed any bird interaction with the pieces that I saw.  For those concerned, there were no loose or toxic materials for the birds to encounter or ingest that would harm them.  The strictest care was made to insure their safety while interacting with (eating off of) the platforms.

And why would I do such a thing?

Well, beside the excuse to glue rhinestones to things, I wanted to address the question of object making by taking the object beyond the human context and introducing it to a non-human audience.  My intention was to bring up questions about the objects we value as a culture and the associated ‘weight’ specific objects carry for us, whether socio economic, historical or sentimental.  The visual absurdity and juxtaposition of these forms with the wild birds was essential to the idea and question.

I believe as humans we are inherent object makers.  I think it’s the way we process our experience in the world and solve problems.  I am intensely fascinated by the strangeness of the human animal and the way that the ‘natural world’ potentially perceives us and our objects. I was assuming that the birds would find little to no value in any of the ‘valuable’ objects they encountered on the platforms beyond their physical use as places to perch while eating the seed. Although they did shy away from the shiniest platform, this was definitely the case.

Because a component of the experiment was dependent on bird interaction in real time, I also thought about the issue of ephemeral and temporal experience being translated into an art object through photography.  The photographs that were published in the journal on some level, function like segregates for the actual experience, but are also complete art objects in themselves.  I’m interested in furthering this idea of capturing a moment in time and pushing both it’s strengths and limitations.  

The object itself was as essential to this process as the avian interaction and documentation of the experience.  Without it’s physical form this interspecies physical, sensory, absurd, humorous experiment and dialogue couldn’t exist.

I learned a thing or two in the process…

The biggest realization, and I know it seems obvious, but I really grasped it on a whole new level, was that I was on bird time.  I had to be patient and I had to be quiet and slow moving…but mostly patient.  I initially put all four of the platforms against our garage door.  Visually I thought they looked great and that way I could control the experiment.  I could easily see which platform they preferred and make a note and photograph of it.  Unfortunately I was thinking like a human.  I’m not exactly sure why, but they were extremely hesitant to approach all four platforms together. There were a couple brave souls that ate from the gold jewelry platform, but the others lay empty of birds.  I had to think quickly because I was on a deadline.  If the birds didn’t come, there was no project.  I decided to spread the platforms out.  I placed two against the fence and one on either side of the garage.

My back up plan was that knowing our local squirrels are fairly fearless, as long as the platform were against the fence, they would get to the seed.  At least I would have pictures of squirrels!   But the birds did come, and by they I mean, house finches and house sparrows…and yes, some squirrels.

In the few months following this experiment  I’ve decided to make a large natural history museum inspired diorama as a backdrop to photograph the birds.  It’s still unfolding and evolving, but my thoughts are now shifting to ideas of human manipulated environments.

No offense to house finches and house sparrows, I think they are wonderful, but for this next step, I want to attract a more diverse group of birds in addition to these two species.  So I’ve started the process of making our backyard into a desirable place for birds…a bird garden of sorts.  Last year we set up the garden to feed ourselves and this year three quarters of that same space is being planted to feed and shelter birds. I have much to learn yet, and will continue to research and experiment.  This blog is intended to be a place to record and share this journey as well as receive thoughts and feedback from other bird, art and nature lovers.  Stay tuned and please share any thoughts that you may have…