Wild Parrot Brewing -- 5 Star Review

Last night we had dinner (plus a flight of beer and glass of wine) at Wild Parrot Brewing Company, which is a fantastic addition to East Pasadena.  They share space with Rosebud Coffee at the corner of East Colorado Blvd. and Roosevelt, just a few doors down from Fedde Furniture. 

This is primarily a brewery and tap room with ample tables to hang out and enjoy some excellent beer.  They had a fine selection of home-brewed beers and ciders on tap.  I tried a flight of different beers (served in four-ounce glasses placed in a cupcake tin) and was happy with all the selections. But, I definitely favored the West Coast IPA.  

Food is not the main attraction here, but their offerings were quite good. We enjoyed a spicy grilled carnitas sandwich and nachos topped with carnitas.  Looks like they have special BBQ and hamburger days too. 

Anyone living in East Pasadena will get the Wild Parrot name.  The green birds are familiar local sights and the sound of their shrieks unforgettable. How the birds got established here is a distinctively East Pasadena story that is told (with some artistic license) in humorous posters on the walls of the Wild Parrot Brewing Company.  

Now, about a decade ago, right here in this blog, I told the story of our local wild parrots. As the art depicts, the parrots' story is connected with the rise and fall of the old Simpsons Garden Town that was also located on East Colorado Blvd.  In what remains one of this blog's all time most visited posts, I told the story of a scrappy entrepreneur named Hal Simpson, his nursery and bird farm, and the fire that both destroyed his business and liberated the forebears of our local parrots.   

This bird looks like he could use a cold IPA on tap at, where else, Wild Parrot Brewing Company.  Great new spot.  We will be back.

Bird Flies Over the Rainbow in East Pasadena

This phenomenon was captured last month.  

Bobcats at Eaton Canyon

While hiking in Eaton Canyon early this morning, I crossed paths with two bobcats.  Initially, I saw one cat peak its head out of the bushes, then walk across the trail.  That all happened too fast for me to get a picture. Then, I was surprised when a second bobcat appeared in the bush.  That cat looked our way and was still for a minute or two.  Then, like the earlier cat, the cat pictured above calmly walked across the trail.  

 As I have posted here, we have seen bobcats before strolling through our yard and jumping over the fence into the neighbor's yard.  These sightings have been at dusk and each time we have seen one lone bobcat.  The sighting today was early in the morning on the main Eaton Canyon trail.  According to Wikipedia,  bobcats are  mostly nocturnal and typically solitary.  So, I got lucky with the early morning sighting.  But, it seems unusual that I saw two bobcats travelling together. 

Though I have seen several bobcats by now, I have yet to get a decent picture.  When we have seen the cats at our home, it has been dusk.  Combine the lack of light with the bobcat's propensity to skirt the edges of fences and trees and you have a tough photo.   

Today, I was walking with our 6 month old puppy who,, even without wild cats on the trail ahead, was a frenzied nut wanting to smell every tree and rock in the canyon.  So, I had to use one hand to hold the dog leash which was whipping back and forth.  That left me only with one hand to hold my camera phone and take the photo.  Definitely not optimal camera conditions.  Still, the cats are beautiful to see and, even in subpar pictures, the distinctive bobcat markings are easy to see.    

Cat and Deer

Cats have a way.  

I was out walking the dog and caught this scene taking place on the neighbor's front yard.  There were about five deer standing on a small patch of grass when the cat decided to slink on through. Reportedly the cat believed she was invisible at the time.   

Flying Squirrel

Summer 2020 Wildlife Update --Deer

Seems every year here in Northeast Pasadena we get a surprise or two.  This summer it was deer.  For the first time in our experience, we have had deer visit the yard.  I have seen this buck maybe half a dozen times  I have seen him on his own. I have also seen him with a smaller buck and, I think, have seen a doe with him too.   

They are beautiful very graceful animals and seeing them has been fun.  I think mostly they have chosen our yard as a shady spot to lie down under the trees.  But, I have seen them move too and this guy can bound over our fence with no effort at all.  Thus far they have done minimal damage. But, I have seen them eating the leaves off our fruit trees and our apple and young avocado have branches that the deer have stripped to the nub.  So, as fun as they are to watch, I have taken to moving the deer along when I see them in the yard.  

I would say bear activity in our neighborhood has been less than in recent years.  Late spring we had a bear cub break through a screened vent and crawl under our porch.  The bear eventually left and the screen was fixed.  We haven't had any problem since.  

Of course, when we first moved here, we did not have any bears around.  We kept chickens, had a small apiary and enjoyed fresh eggs and honey.  We took measures to protect the chickens from coyotes, but did not give bears a thought.  I have posted here about our experience with bears, which reached a low point in 2012 when a bear got into the pen and ate our chickens.    A year earlier, I watched as a bear took out our apiary.    So, we do not have any bees or chickens now. But, we do think about getting chickens again.  

Some other wildlife highlights from the summer:

Twice this summer, I saw a hawk swoop down not more than 10 yards away from me.  I have had this happen here before.  It is thrilling to see a hawk glide downward, ready to grab its prey, and then flap its wings and rocket right back up in the air.  

About dusk one night, as I walked by a large bush in the yard, I heard a faint rustle of leaves.  That's usually a lizard scurrying away, so I stopped and waited to see the lizard. But, there was no lizard.  Instead, I watched as, on the opposite site of the bush from me, a bobcat very quietly exited from under the bush and calmly walked to the fence, jumped up on the fence and then disappeared into the neighbor's yard.  We have seen bobcats here before, but it is rare and always super exciting.   

I have posted before about alligator lizards, which I always find fun to watch.  This summer's pandemic has put me in the yard a lot and I have a few new lizard experiences.  The best was two days ago.  I watched as an alligator lizard slithered out of some tall weeds and went nose down into a patch of freshly weeded dirt. The alligator flailed around in the dirt for a moment and emerged with an earthworm wiggling from both sides of its mouth.  Naturally, when I got my phone out to take a picture, the camera-shy alligator scurried away.

We have also seen and heard from the usual wildlife. We've heard the owls and coyotes (but not seen either).  I see a rabbit or two every morning and there are the squirrels, parrots and tons of doves we also see daily.  But, the real news this summer is the deer. 

Red-Crowned Parrot in Loquat Tree

This weekend a couple of red-crowned parrots flew into our loquat tree.  A clearer photo of a red-crowned parrot in a loquat tree is at socalparrot where there is also some good parrot info.  For example, our local parrots have not displaced native birds or damaged habitat for native species.  The reason is the parrots do not eat our native plants but rather the non-native plants (like loquats) that we grow in abundance in parts of southern California.  

Bears in Trees

Living toward the north east end of the City, we see bears in the neighborhood.  Occasionally, they will be in trees.  The first bear we saw here was in  a tree, having been chased up the tree by our dog.  Since then, we have seen more bears in neighborhood trees.   This weekend, we saw another bear in a tree.    Here, the bear is starting to climb up a vertical trunk of a pine tree.

Here is the bear further up the tree.   Hard to see him from here.    But, if you zoom in....

There's the bear.  Kind of looks like the bear is growing out of the tree.

Bobcats and Rabbits

 I was surprised early today to see this bobcat.  It may be the same one I saw in June, or possibly a different one.  Either way, I watched as this cat walked the very same route as the one in June --  across our yard, jumped up on the fence and then disappeared into the neighbor's yard.   I got a better look this morning and these truly are beautiful animals.    There is an excellent up close photo of a local bobcat at the Eaton Canyon Nature Center site.

Here's a diagram from the National Park's Santa Monica Mountains site showing the relative size and color differences of a mountain lion, bobcat and house cat:

As you can see from the photo, bobcats are about twice the size of domestic cats and much smaller than mountain lions.  Here are some interesting area bobcat facts courtesy of the Santa Monica Mountains site and Urban Carnivores:  

Bobcats are found through out the continental US, most of Mexico and some of southern Canada.  The average bobcat tips the scales at about 18 pounds.   They are primarily nocturnal and the best times to see them are early morning or dusk.    Bobcats are solitary and territorial with males marking a territory of about 3 square miles and females with territories of 1.5 square miles that overlap with males' territories.   For reference, a square mile is 640 acres, so these cats cover a lot of ground.   Bobcats are adaptable and can live on the urban edge, provided they find food.

Which brings us to the bobcat diet.   They're carnivores and eat the prey they catch.    That prey can be birds, lizards, squirrels, gophers, rats, or any small animal.   But, the primary prey and primary food for bobcats are rabbits.   Perhaps not so coincidentally, just this summer I have started seeing more and more rabbits scurrying about the neighborhood, including this one:

 

Recent Wildlife in the Yard

Seems we have lots of alligator lizards and I've posted more than a few photos of them on this blog.   One thing about alligator lizards -- they're always going to give you attitude.

This  is a young bear we've seen several times already this  year.  They look sleepy and lumbering until you see them climb a tree.   They are very agile and can easily go straight up that pine tree in this picture.

The picture is poor, but this  is a bobcat we watched calmly walk across our  yard, jump up on the fence and  disappear into  the neighbor's yard.   This is maybe the third or fourth time we've seen a bobcat here.  This was a brief but fun sighting.

Alligator in the Avocado

We see many alligator lizards around here and I've posted about these reptiles before.   This is the first time I have seen one in a tree.   It is a little hard to spot, but this alligator lizard has kind of wrapped itself on the limb of an avocado tree. 

Snakes and Lizards

 We were treated this weekend to something we don't often see - a striped racer snake.   We saw one many years ago hanging out in bushes near our house.  Saturday we saw this small striped racer on our brick patio.  

 Stripped racers are also called California whipsnakes.  They are very quick, as this one was, and live in California's coastal and foothill areas.   The Eaton Canyon site has a nice photo and write up.   California Herps has a number of captioned photos of stripped racers and the lizards they prey on.  Stripped racers are known to tangle with alligator lizards.   Probably not coincidentally, we've had an abundance of lizards this summer, including this alligator below. 

Bobcat Sighting

Last night, about 7 pm we were sitting on the front porch when we were visited by this bobcat.  We watched it walk across our driveway, then across our yard and into a neighbor's yard.   It never paused -- just kept walking like it knew where it was going.   Unfortunately, the picture is not very clear.  But, you can see some of the cat's streaky black markings.  You can also make out the bobbed tail.

Seeing the bobcat is big news around our house.  I had previously seen one at Eaton Canyon near the nature center.   And, many years ago, our daughter told us she saw a bobcat in our yard.  Actually, she said she saw a kitty with no tail.   But, that's about it for our bobcat sightings.     

It is rare, but bobcats have been seen in some Pasadena neighborhoods.     Bobcats are indigenous to the San Gabriel mountains and foothill areas.   They are active in early morning hours and evening hours and each night may move two to seven miles within its territory.  They hunt a variety of animals ranging from mice to deer, but articles seem to mention rabbits as a favored food.   Coincidentally, I have noticed an abundance of rabbits in our neighborhood this year.   
      

Woodpeckers Building Their Nest

 The past few days I've been watching a pair of woodpeckers chipping away at the neighbor's tree.   Not sure what kind of woodpeckers they are.  Possibly  Nuttal's Woodpecker, which is listed as common to Eaton Canyon.  This is the male.

 Here is the female.  

And here is the male popping his head out of the cavity they've made.   This was kind of chance shot.  I couldn't see either of the birds, but stood under the tree listening to the woodpecker chip away.   After a while, the male came out and quickly flew away.   Nuttal's make cavities for nesting that are 1.5 in. by 7-10 inches.   We will keep an eye on this nest.  These woodpeckers lay 3-6 eggs which hatch after 14 days.  

Raccoon

I saw this raccoon about twilight last night.  He was walking the top of our neighbor's wall.    

Prior to this year, I had not seen a raccoon in Pasadena.  I know they live here, I just had not seen one.  

Bear Attack Kills Two Chickens

 

Early Tuesday morning I took one step outside and saw this.  Sometime during the night, the side of our chicken house had been ripped off. 

Right away I knew it was bears.   A mother bear and two cubs have been in the area for weeks now.  Sunday night they were in a yard up our street and attracted the attention of the police, animal control and a helicopter.   On Monday morning, which is our trash pick up, they upended our trash cans and those of many up and down the street.    

As I put on my shoes, I was stunned, mad and sad all at the same time.  I knew we had lost chickens and I knew the bears had gotten them.   I walked to the hen house and saw a mass of feathers inside.   And the nesting boxes I made had been broken apart.   It was not hard to envision what had happened.    

I counted five chickens.   All were intact and looked fine.   Two of our flock were missing.   

I walked the yard and quickly found the remains of our two hens.    One hen, dubbed Speedy by our daughter, had been eaten no more than 20 feet from our back door.   The other hen, a pretty buff and white feathered chicken, had been taken to the front of the yard.   Very little was left of either bird.

I also saw plenty of other bear evidence -- two piles of bear poop, a broken fence and punctured volleyball.  

Though we live in the City of Pasadena, we're no strangers to wildlife.  I've devoted more space on this blog to wildlife than anything else for the simple reason that I'm amazed by it.   It is fascinating to see a hawk, coyote or bear in real life. 

Until now, I've thought we coexisted reasonably well with the wildlife.  But, the bears present an unusual challenge.  They're just so big and strong.   Coyotes can be fenced out. But, bears -- they go where they want and do what they want, including breaking through fences and ripping the siding off a chicken coop.        

I have to admit they're wearing on me.   I can deal with the trash barrels.    I don't like it, but I can fix a fence or two.   But, I hate losing our chickens. 

***********************

As I post this, I'm not sure what we're going to do.  We hear from others that bears are still in the neighborhood.   As things stand, we have no way to stop them from breaking into the coop again.   And, if we left our remaining chickens in the coop, the bears would certainly return for more.   So, while we figure things out, we've temporarily  relocated our chickens to another home.

A Morning Bear

We were having breakfast this morning, sitting at the table right next to the screen door.   I had my back to the door and was enjoying some morning eggs and coffee, when our daughter says, "there's a bear."    My first thought was that she was kidding.  Her voice was a little too calm.  So, I took another bite of eggs.

My second thought was that it was strange for her to kid about a bear.  Why kid about that?  So, I turned around and looked outside.  There, on the other side of the screen door, not more than ten feet from us, was a young bear.

He roamed over to our chickens, which sent the birds scurrying inside their pen.   The bear sniffed around the chicken wire, pushed on it a bit, thankfully not hard enough to push it over.  Then he moved on.

The bear climbed our apricot tree.  It is not a very good shot, but I got a picture of him in the middle of the tree looking back at me.   There's not much fruit left on the tree. Most all of our apricots are eaten by kids doing exactly what the bear was doing -- climbing around the tree looking for ripe apricots.

After about ten minutes we watched the bear move on.

Drama in a Meadow off New York Drive

It is always fun to see deer - especially when you live in the city.   I saw these deer this afternoon at the edge of the meadow across from the old Earthlink building on New York Drive.  

There were four deer.  Two large deer and a couple of younger, smaller deer.    . 

Then I spotted another animal moving over the hillside above the meadow. . I couldn't get a great look at it.  But, it was definitely a cat. Looked like a bobcat or small mountain lion.   I saw the cat move along a stretch of chain link fence and then crouch down.     About fifty feet and a line of chain link separated the cat from the deer. 

I watched the drama play out from the street.   Would the cat go after the deer?

Then I moved in for a closer look.  Camera in hand, I very stealthily stepped over a string of wire and crept into the meadow.   With one eye I watched the animals.  With my other eye,  I tried to navigate the meadow without stepping on anything crunchy.

I made my way well into the meadow.   I still had a bead on the deer.   The cat lurked behind the deer. A hawk soared above.   Just a few more steps and I would pause for what was going to be a great picture.

Then, quail happened. 

I've seen quail in the meadow before.  They scurry around from bush to bush.  Fun to watch. Hard to follow.  Impossible (for me) to photograph.

I had taken one step too many.   A bevy of quail scattered across the ground in front of me.   I watched the birds dart through the brush.  Then, I looked up.  The deer were walking away.   I looked in vain for the cat.  It was gone.

The drama was done.  Show over.

Baby Alligator Lizards

Alligator lizard eggs hatch in late summer and early fall and it is about this time each year that I see these young alligator lizards with their amazing tails.  

Unless eaten by a cat, hawk, snake or another lizard, these young alligators will grow to maturity in about 18 months and reach possibly 16-20 inches long including their tails.  They'll eat a lot of insects along the way and will develop markings on their back.  They will probably lose their tails, grow a new tail, and grow up to look like this:

So, there's my 2011 lizard post.  

The Bears and the Bees

Every summer bears venture down from the mountains into our north-east Pasadena neighborhood.   They are looking for food and every year there are reports of trash cans overturned or fruit trees raided.   From what I've heard, few people in the neighborhood ever actually see a bear and even fewer seem concerned about the animals.  Until this summer, I had experienced only one real bear encounter.  Early one morning a couple of years ago, our dog surprised a bear who scrambled up a tree and then watched me while I took his picture.  It was a fascinating morning. 

Well, this summer I had another bear encounter.   Actually, our bees suffered the encounter and I just watched.   Last year we kept bees without any incident.  No such luck this year.   Above is a photo of our little five-box high bee hive.  The hive had been healthy and happy all summer buzzing along and making honey.   At about 2 am recently I heard our dog barking and watched out the window as a bear stood on its hind legs, put its paws against the top of the hive and knocked it over.   The frames spilled out and the bear gorged itself on honey.  It was a sad, sad sight.

Amazingly, though, the hive survived, was put back together and moved to a new home.