Eaton Wash Trail Design Meeting Tonight

The meeting starts at 7 pm at the Garvey Center in Rosemead. To get there, just pick up Rosemead Blvd. in East Pasadena and head south. After going under the 10 Freeway, turn west on Garvey. The Garvey Center is 9108 Garvey.

Eaton Wash Trail Design Review Meetings - Sept. 9 and 11

From Nancy Steele, President of Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy:

Please join us for the second round of meetings on the Eaton Wash to review the trail designs developed by our consultants. You have your choice of a Thursday evening meeting in Rosemead or a Saturday morning meeting in Altadena. We got a lot of really good input from the first round of workshops and I encourage you to attend one of these final two meetings to hear about the draft designs and provide your comments.

Workshop #3: Design Review
Thursday, Sept. 9, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
Garvey Center
9108 Garvey Ave.
Rosemead, CA 91770

Workshop #4: Design Review
Saturday, Sept. 11, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Altadena Community Center
730 E. Altadena Drive
Altadena, CA 91001

If you missed the first set of workshops or want more information, please go to our website: http://www.arroyosfoothills.org/eaton-wash.html

You can also download a flyer in English and Spanish to help us get the word out.

See you there!

Young Alligator Lizard Cooling Off

It was so hot today that even the lizards wanted to cool down. Here's a young alligator lizard hitching a ride in the pool on a pine needle. He had hold of that pine needle and seemed content to just float around.

Alligator lizards are actually good swimmers. They swim with a vigorous undulating motion that resembles a snake in the water.

Once out of the water, the lizard paused before scurrying away. I like this lizard profile because it shows how long their tails are in relation to their bodies.

Two years ago one of my first posts was of a young alligator lizard. California Herps says that these lizards lay their eggs in May to July and that the eggs hatch in late summer or early fall. Judging from other alligator lizards I've found around here, this recently hatched reptile will get much bigger and will lose the orange stripe down its back.

Texas Stop Sign

Do you get a ticket if you run a SOTP sign?

This photo from my niece originates east of Allen Avenue -- about 1500 miles east.

Bear Signs

Seems we get some bear activity about this time every year. Earlier this week I saw a neighbor picking up his trash barrel, which a bear had knocked over. Last night it was our turn and early this morning the dog woke us up to the sounds of a bear rumaging in our trash. As I expected, this morning our trash barrels were knocked down.

Doves and Hawks

While out in the garden last Saturday, I watched a pair of Mourning Doves build their nest in the limbs of a nearby oak. Turns out our garden is kind of like a Home Depot for doves -- with an endless supply of building materials.

It was a pretty pastoral scene, the cool of early day, birds singing and a pair of doves making their family home. Occasional cooing floated down from the trees. I watched Mr. Dove as he glided down to the ground, loaded up with the biggest twig he could carry, then flew up to a roof and into the oak. The male dove gathers the twigs and the female builds the nest. You can't see it, but the doves' nest is just a few yards from the peak of the roof, hidden in the oak branches.

Doves and particularly doves with twigs in their beaks are symbols of peace and rest. It was a dove who found land and brought Noah the olive twig signifying the end of the flood. When Picasso wanted to symbolize peace, he drew a dove. And, this beautiful July morning it was easy to understand why as I watched the doves go about their business.

So, here we were, the doves and I. Peace and contentment abounded.

But, (cue Jaws theme) a predator was watching.

Doves are a favorite food of the Cooper's Hawk. The hawks soar overhead looking for food, looking for doves.

And they hide in trees, surveying the area for their next victim. Cooper's Hawks like to hunt with sudden dashes from a concealed perch and swoop in low to snare their victim.


Cooper's Hawks have incredible eyesight -- 20/2 or eight times better than excellent human vision. While we could walk right by this dove and not even notice it, the hawk would see the dove clearly from afar.

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So, there I was -- watering and happy to watch the dove come and go. The dove was pecking around for twigs not more than fifteen feet away. I can't speak for the dove, but I had no idea of the danger that lurked nearby.

Then it happened. Seemingly out of nowhere, a hawk swooped down from behind me, veering around my right side about waist high. He came so close that I felt a small breeze and an instant chill. Had I lifted my arm, I would have hit the hawk.

As he swooped around in front of me, I recognized the Cooper's Hawk. I watched as the hawk flew low, aiming straight for the dove, talons down.

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The harsh reality is that being a dove is high risk. Mortality is high. Six of ten adult doves die each year from predators and other causes. The risk is even higher for young doves. But, the circle of life is in high gear. Doves are prolific breeders, raising up to six broods a year, and are among the more abundant birds.

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If caught by a Cooper's Hawk, a dove's fate is not pretty. The hawk's talons are strong and needle sharp. The hawk wraps its talons around its prey and then, in mid-air, kills its prey by repeatedly squeezing it.

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I don't know how often a dove can evade a swooping Cooper's Hawk. But that is what happened. Fortunately for the dove, it was standing near an apricot tree and even more fortunate for him, he saw the hawk. As the hawk swooped down toward the ground and stretched out its talons, the smaller bird darted behind the apricot. By the narrowest of margins, the hawk missed and the dove got away.

With one powerful flap of its wings, the hawk rose up and over the fence. As quickly as it had appeared, the hawk was gone.

The Bees of Sierra Madre Villa

Apiary at Cogswell’s Sierra Madre Villa

Ca. 1886, Carleton E. Watkins

Courtesy of the California History Room
California State Library, Sacramento

The picture above is a "cabinet photo" of the beekeeping operation at the old Sierra Madre Villa Hotel.

My search for Sierra Madre Villa beekeeping turned up an old issue of the Western Honey Bee and an article from an old timer who reminisces about early beekeepers in Los Angeles County. He lists more than a dozen beekeepers operating in the 1870's - 80's. He writes, "Nearly all of the apiaries were at the foot of the Sierra Madre, wherever a stream or spring could be found."

So, it shouldn't surprise that the enterprising folks of the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel kept bees -- the old hotel being amply supplied with water from the nearby stream flowing from Davis Canyon.

Apiary at Sierra Madre Villa

Ca. 1886, Carleton E. Watkins

Courtesy of the California History Room

California State Library, Sacramento

I count more than 75 of the box towers or bee hives. From what I've read, each hive may have 20,000 to 60,000 bees, depending upon what time of year it is. If all of these hives were occupied, that's a lot of bees.

At first, I was surprised to see the beekeeper in these photos walking around among all these bees without any protection. Though I don't quite understand it, there seem to be other beekeepers who work with bees without the white spacesuit and mesh helmet as protection.

Apiary at Sierra Madre Villa

ca. 1886, Carleton E. Watkins

Courtesy of the California State Library, Sacramento

This view provides a good look at what much of the East Pasadena terrain probably looked like 120 years ago. You can also see the reach of the apiary.

When I first saw these photos, I wondered why Carleton Watkins would go to all the trouble to take these pictures. Photography back in the 1880's was not exactly a casual "point and shoot" thing -- there were heavy plates and equipment to lug around. There must have been something about the apiary or the whole idea of keeping honey bees that grabbed his attention. Might be that beekeeping was kind of novel -- honey bees were relatively new to California -- introduced in 1857. Or maybe he sampled some of the Villa's honey and was taken by the little insects that produced it.

From the photo, the terrain looks a little barren to support bees. Not visible in the picture were the area's citrus groves that were downhill from the apiary. Reportedly, the Villa alone had 5,000 large orange trees. I don't know what it takes to keep millions of bees in nectar, but that's probably a good start.