And in the midst of the smoke, a raven nest on the LA river.
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Hollywood Hills Brush Fire
30-Mar-07Too good to last
30-Mar-07For a couple weeks they thought they had a good thing going. The nest took shape quickly. It’s not clear if these were the ravens working in the billboard, or if these ravens chased the others off and set to work on their choice of location. Come to think of it, I suppose it’s even possible that the billboard nest was finished and that it’s in use.
What is clear is that the apes who own the edifice don’t want non-paying species moving in. The nest on the fire escape has already been removed.
Fitheach a’ coimhead air an t-soidhne Hollywood / raven viewing hollywood sign
Originally uploaded by AlasdairFitheach.
The tourist gaze.
But the bird is at home.
Birds working all over the place
20-Mar-07Well, not only were a pair of ravens roosting locally, but they were trying to build a nest in the billboard in the photo below.
They were at it for about a week - and then their twig-bearing flights seemed to change direction. This morning I found out why. They are building a nest on a fire escape high above the main entrance to Hollywood’s famous Roosevelt Hotel. I’m not surprised. The billboard didn’t seem too viable. Pigeons, seagulls, and difficult spaces to fit into. The new location will have the opposite problem. It is too visible, and the local primates will probably not be ecstatic about having breeding ravens on their real estate.
Birds about town
19-Mar-07Drove a different route to work and got to see other than Labrea ravens. There was a pair descending spiritedly over Crescent Heights and Sunset Blvd, and another soaring over the Skybar. In the afternoon, a pair over Culver City at Jefferson and Sepulveda, and simply lots of ravens to welcome me back home to Hollywood in the evening.
On Sunday morning I noticed a nest in a power pylon above the LA River adjacent to Forest Lawn Hollywood. I’ll have to go back for photos. So that’s four active breeding pairs in a fairly small area of the eastern Santa Monicas. Google Earth will help with more accurate measurements.
Urban Raven II
11-Mar-07Pair of ravens in and out of billboards here at Billy Wilder Square. Picking up cached goodies? Terrorizing pigeons? Looking for a room? It was almost sunset, and many other ravens had already left the area, so I have to wonder if these guys roost more locally.
As I write, a raven is calling outside (it is the next day). So they or others are already making the rounds.
Ravens Working in Trees II
01-Mar-07Back to the GP today to see how things are going. Last Sunday small twigs were being taken up to the nest. Today it was some kind of soft-looking stuff, so I guess they are finishing up. Lots of ravens in the air over the park. Took lots of photos on film since I really needed the telephoto lens. Noticed that both the Hollywood sign and Hollywood are backdrops to this nest site - these are very smart birds. Also, the two nearest known nests will be visible in the distance in some photos, that is, Iron Mountain and Runyon Canyon. I would not be surprised if there were closer nests - say, near Lake Hollywood, or on the other side of the GP, but if building season is just about over, they will be harder to find. At one point, an intruder raven appeared and was chased right off, which I hope will turn out well on film.
Ravens Working in Trees
01-Mar-07Nesting season is officially underway, and I had the good luck to catch not one but two pair of ravens hard at work over the last weekend - in two different cities, too. The first pair are evidently undaunted by the heavy traffic of motor coaches driving to and from the newly re-opened Griffith Park Observatory, and have chosen to take up residence (or to return to) one of the park’s busiest intersections, no more than a half mile from the observatory. The other pair live in Redlands, California and have also chosen a tall deodar pine near a busy intersection in a very upscale residential district.
UCLA - Royce Hall Raven
23-Feb-07One of the several UCLA ravens. They love the tall trees and tall buildings, and the acoustics that amplify their vocalizations across the historic center of campus.
Fashion raven / fitheach fasanta
21-Feb-07The billboard reads “hip has found a home” but I’d call that “chic” wouldn’t you? Anyway it is about nesting season, so maybe this raven is considering a condo down the street. I’d been taking pictures of it for a few minutes, and it decided to take a closer look, flying in a circle over me at about 20 feet up, literally eyeing me up and down before returning to the billboard. The only other ravens I recall doing that live nearby in Runyon. Below, the same raven in a small pine a few yards from the billboard. It was awfully close to street level for a raven, and possibly the unusual behavior of human triggered some awareness that something strange or new was going on. It hopped three nervous neophobe hops on the billboard before flying over to take a look at me. They are used to humans paying them no notice at all here. A human actually peering at them and taking pictures has to be a novelty - something out of the ordinary in a very ordinary and predictable environment.
