View allAll Photos Tagged rusticcanyon
Jerry drives the mobile blind. Raindrops bounce in through my open window. I point the camera at the Hawk taking a break on a short wooden tree support. His color is a spot of energy in the dreary day. The iso is maxed out so I tinker with the settings. If I sacrifice DOF I can expose the film to more light, right? And if I lower the shutter speed (maybe shudder speed in the cold rain) the photo quality might improve?
"Early naturalists called the redshoulder “the Singing Hawk,” more in reference to the species’ incessant noisiness than to the sweetness of its sound. In their wonderfully descriptive book, Raptors of California, Hans and Pam Peeters put it bluntly: The red-shouldered hawk is perhaps “California’s noisiest raptor, often drawing attention to itself with its loud and repeated clarion calls.”"
baynature.org
"...a site in Rustic Canyon known as Uplifters Ranch, a 120-acre parcel developed as a retreat for the Uplifters Club, an exclusive, male-only social group founded in the late 1800s. The elite fraternity’s membership roster included such notable names as Clark Gable, Harold Lloyd, Walt Disney, Will Rogers, Aldous Huxley, Spencer Tracy..."
la.curbed.com
At the Santa Monica Stairs (actually a pair of stairs--one wood & one concrete) down to Rustic Canyon.
Ten Lessons from the American Robin
1. It’s good to be common
The American Robin is one of the most common and widespread native birds in North America. This large population gives robins great resilience in the face of ecological and climatic challenges.
Build the movement!
2. Adapt to where you are
Robins are found from steamy southern swamps to the Alaskan tundra. Their remarkable ability to adapt to local conditions and resources is the secret of their success.
Frame your message with regard to local conditions
3. And also have one special skill
For all their adaptability, robins also have a specialized skill: their earthworm-hunting behavior, which opens up a rich resource few other birds exploit.
Know your special talent and make the most of it
4. ‑Figure out how to take advantage of the dominant paradigm
Robins thrive in part because of their ability to make the most of human environments, nesting in our backyards and foraging on our lawns.
Don’t be afraid to make alliances and to engage with mass media
5. Be alert for phonies
Robins are among the few birds able to detect and toss out the eggs of the parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird, thus protecting their nests from invaders.
Welcome only those who truly share your values
6. Know when to move on
Throughout their wide range, robins exhibit facultative migration – that is, they adjust their winter residency to conditions. In a cold winter, they head south; if the next year is mild, they may remain resident all year.
Know when to stage a tactical retreat, in order to win another time
7. Produce lots of young
Robins often produce two broods of offspring per year. That gives them a huge advantage compared to less fecund species.
There’s no substitute for the energy and idealism of the young when building a movement.
8. Be confident
Robins are often described as “bold,” “confident,” and “confiding,” in contrast to related birds like the shy Varied Thrush. There is no doubt that the outgoing behavior of robins has contributed greatly to their success.
Believe in your cause whole-heartedly, and others will too.
9. Be friendly
In addition to their boldness, robins appeal to us because they’re friendly – even if they’re keeping us company in the garden in order to snatch up earthworms!
A friendly, positive approach will gain many more listeners than one wrapped in doom and gloom.
10. Sing!
For many of us, the rich warbling song of the robin announces the arrival of spring, lifting our spirits after the hard winter. Isn’t a beautiful message what we all want to hear?
No matter what, sing!
Pepper Trail is a naturalist and writer in Ashland, Oregon.
W9 and I carefully wind our way from Santa Monica to Rustic Canyon. We find the exact house where this rare bird was spotted. Alejandra and Manuel are smiling, giving us a warm welcome after we pull over and park. Another couple are there watching as well. The bird was seen 20 minutes ago, but will we see it?
“There he is” one of the birders calls. I’m squinting so hard I think my face will crack and fall off. I was supposed to remember my binoculars. Using the camera viewfinder for magnification doesn’t cut it when looking for small active birds.
Again, I am touched by the patience and kindness of my fellow birders. They help me find the nondescript bird. I don’t take this for granted. But the bird is too far away. He looks like a small beige moving blob. I’d like to take a step closer but one of the birders I don’t know says “Wait. The bird will bolt.” I’m not happy but we all need to be on the same page. I have to consider the group. That Nat Geo cover shot is not going to happen today.
We introduce ourselves and find the couple to be Mary and Nick Freeman: two of our local birding heavyweights.
Nick has a spotting scope. The view is crisp. I’m looking at a new bird. A life bird.
Seeing the bird move on the ground in the shadows feeding ... watching him raise those delicate patterned and modest crest feathers.... You tell me what is more exciting: Seeing the bird in real time or after the fact on the computer monitor?
I ask who first found this bird. If I even noticed this sparrow I would assume it to be a female or juvenile something-or-other.
Bird first found by Dessi Sieburth… the 2015 ABA Young Birder of the Year. I find some articles about him and I read a few sentences to Jerry. It seems this young man found his calling at age 8.
Jerry and I think back to the time a Blue footed Booby visited our local Marina. We were climbing over the rocks beyond the Pacific Ave Bridge. We were new to bird watching. A young mother and son passed us so we asked what they had seen. We directed the questions to the mother and she turned to her preteen son. He was the one with binoculars. Very calm and focused with unexpected poise. He took a beat to compose his thoughts.
It was an unforgettable encounter.
Gibbons House "Dolores Del Rio" 1929
Douglas Honnold and Cedric Gibbbons
757 Kingman Ave
An early and impressive example of te Modern, somewhat formal and monumental (Art Deco) towards the street, but almost pure doctrinaire Interational Style Modern i te two-story facade, which overlooks Santa Monica Canyon.
Architecture in Los Angeles: A Compleat Guide
David Gebhard and Robert Winters
Pacific Palisades, South, No. 5
__________
Austin Cedric Gibbons
Gibbons was born in Dublin, Ireland and studied at the Art Students League of New York and worked for his architect father. While at Edison Studios from 1915, he first designed a set for a film released in 1919, assisting Hugo Ballin. But, after this first foray, the studio closed, and he signed with Samuel Goldwyn in 1918. This evolved to working for Louis B. Mayer at MGM from 1924 to 1956—a 32-year career.
In 1930, he married actress Dolores del Rio and co-designed their house in Santa Monica, an intricate Art Deco residence influenced by Rudolf Schindler. They divorced in 1941, the year he married actress Hazel Brooks (b. Cape Town, South Africa, 1925–d. Los Angeles, 2002) with whom he remained for the rest of his life.
Cedric Gibbons fostered MGM's incorrect publicity claim that he was born in Dublin, Ireland and provided his birth year as 1893. Also, in responding to letters from those seeking employment as designers at MGM, he instructed his secretary Herta Verkuitz to respond by claiming that a degree in "architectural engineering" was required, thus, suggesting that he himself had such a degree and evidently aspiring to his father's profession. The letters further claimed that Gibbons was "the first to bring modern architecture to the screen" (a memo dated 23 March 1935, Special Collections, American Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, MGM Art Department/Publicity, folder 44).
Gibbons was one of the original 36 founding members of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and oversaw the design of the Academy Awards Oscar statuette in 1929, a trophy for which he himself would be nominated 39 times, winning 11—second only to Walt Disney, who won 26.
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedric_Gibbons
__________
Dolores Del Rio
Dolores del Río (August 3, 1905 – April 11, 1983) was a Mexican film actress. She was a star of Hollywood films during the silent era and in the Golden Age of Hollywood, becoming an important actress in Mexican films later in her life. She was generally thought to be one of the most beautiful actresses of her generation. Dolores del Río was the first Latin American movie star with international appeal, and she made an extraordinary career in 1920s and 1930s Hollywood.
Was considered the female version of Rudolph Valentino in her silent films ages. With the arrival of the talkies she was considered one of the principal Art-Decó symbols of beauty.
In the early 40's she began a polemic romance with Orson Welles and that was the key reason why she decided to return to Mexico.
Dolores was the principal star of Mexican films from the Golden age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. She was one of the the greatest examples of Latin American cinema, with a huge industry comparable to the Hollywood of those years. She was frequently referred as the "Princess of México".
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolores_del_R%c3%ado
This tiny bird calls boldly but we found it difficult to find and difficult to photograph. "The scientific name of the Pacific-slope Flycatcher, difficilis, is appropriate. It means "difficult," and this species is extremely difficult to distinguish from the similar Cordilleran Flycatcher." allaboutboids
Santa Monica Canyon, ocean-facing & with a moist, cool micro-climate of its own, is really part of Los Angeles, though it shares the Santa Monica zip code. [#7 in album of 18]