Notes from the Canyon – August 6, 2023

~ This year’s juvenile Common Ravens have moved from newly hatched to branchlings to fully fledged birds.  This group, occasionally harassed by Red Shouldered Hawks and heard outside our windows, continued to beg earnestly for food whenever the parents flew back with snacks.  Starting this week, we heard no begging calls whatsoever. It’s time to hone those scavenging skills!

~Corvids have been bathing and drinking in our birdbath.  The dishes are frequented by much smaller birds, but the ravens and crows can’t resist. They’re obviously too big for these birdbaths.

~The yucca trees have finished their blooming season. A few closer to the coast are still holding onto their creamy white blossoms.  Grouped within the agave family, they are related to asparagus plants.

~Last Wednesday, a fire burned in part of Topanga village, about five miles northwest of our place. Given the name Owens Fire, it consumed 50 acres before being put out with land and air support.  Topanga Canyon last burned in 1970. 

~On Tuesday of this week, the Los Angeles Fire Department helicopter teams were dispatched to rescue an injured hiker just inside of Topanga State Park. One craft hovered while lowering an aeromedic to secure the hiker in the Stokes basket. A second aircraft monitored from above, flew in large circles, deafening us with each pass.  The rocky terrain of the Santa Monica Mountains is quite an inhospitable spot on which to land. It was all quite easy to see from our balcony and routine for the LAFD. I wonder if the hiker will be charged for the rescue?   

Note: Living adjacent to Topanga State Park, we hear search and rescue helicopter operations several times a week.  In Malibu, we were accustomed to seeing the routine flights by the orange US Coast Guard helicopters, doing search and rescue, practice exercises and great white shark surveillance in nearshore waters.

~ The Santa Ynez Creek’s tree frogs and toads have gone silent, estivating in moist areas until the rains return. To hear what they sounded like earlier in the year, click here.

~Juvenile bird feathers are collecting at the edge of the two birdbaths.  Distinct for their fluffy white and light gray appearance, they’re molted by the spring 2023 class of juncos, warblers and finches.

~California crickets have returned to the outdoor orchestra pit this week.  Around eight p.m., they start their cheery shirring of wings. Last night on the patio, we heard dueling Great Horned Owls and crickets about an hour after the sun set behind the mountain.

~ Cliff Swallows are skimming the swimming pool’s surface, effortlessly touching down for a millisecond to pick up marooned insects.

Book recommendations include:

1. Conversations with Birds by Priyanka Kumar (Milkweed Editions).
2. Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati (Simon & Schuster).