Great Egrets US / Great Crested Grebes UK

While photographing the Malibu nesting Egrets in their Ficus tree (before returning to the UK), I spotted one of them clambering about on a Eucalyptus tree some distance away- so I went to investigate. What I discovered was that he had found a good supply of dead twigs there to take to his mate on the nest. I think this was more as a display symbol rather than for repairing the nest, as I had previously observed a male bird returning to his nest after copulation with an offering of a stick (click here for images).

Because of his size he was having a difficult time balancing on the fragile branches while he pulled at the dead twigs. Here he is:


And here he is looking like a beautiful Angel...


He now perseveres to reach what he wants:


Now he prepares to leave the tree with his trophy:


Finally, he is disappearing to take it to his mate...


Well, having said a sad good-bye to the Egrets I flew back to the London Borough of Ilford. Here it was grey and unusually cold for a UK May, so at first I skulked about feeling rather sorry for myself. However, very soon I walked to Valentines Park, which has always been rewarding. The first thing I saw was a Great Crested Grebe carrying sticks to HIS mate's nest, in a similar fashion to the Egret- only he was collecting the sticks from an old nest and SWIMMING with them to his new one. I gather the Grebes had been ousted from their first nest by Coots.

Great Crested Grebes have always been yet another favourite of mine. This dates from my love of a delightful illustration of one in Pere Castor's "Ploof the Wild Duck", a French book I had as a child, and then seeing the birds themselves on the Lochs in Aberdeenshire with my parents who were fervent birdwatchers.

So here is the Grebe gallantly taking his stick to his nest on the edge of the Boating Lake:



Here you can just see him- on the left side of the nest- delivering the stick:


and then taking a short break beside the nest:


Shortly after this the female(?) bird left the nest and a good clutch of four eggs were exposed:


Then she- or he- returned to the nest and, after taking pains to build up "sludge" around the eggs, settled down on it:




Finally, the Grebe tucked it's beak under it's neck as it settled down for a doze...


I might add that I feel eternally grateful that I was born- or brought up with- a love of Nature, enabling me to find immense happiness and stimulation whether I am in Southern California or London!

A First Last Look at the Malibu Egrets...

Once again I have got very behindhand with this blog: to begin with, I was not well during my last week in Los Angeles, so was immersed in final preparations for my departure (including having to procure an Emergency Passport on the day I left, mine having expired!). Since arriving back in the UK I have been slowly adjusting to life here- always I seem to have so much I want to do in the US when I have to uproot myself...

In the next few posts I will probably be writing about some of my US experiences as well as my new UK ones.

To start with, I will return to my Malibu Egrets who I last visited a week before I left. First, here are two of the parent birds sharing the nest after copulation:


And here is a last image of the only fledgling I was able to see (without climbing the tree!), being cared for by its parent:


And now for some crazy Egrets: this male- after visiting his mate- retired to a branch and proceeded to exercise his legs:


Then, he got in a rage when another male bird visited an adjoining nest; here he is doing a fantastic display of his wonderful tail-plumage, to warn off the other bird:



Here he "poses" on nearby branches:




And here is a final look at this nest through the tracery of the Ficus' branches- reminiscent of the architecture of a Medieval Church:

Shadows of Leaves

Yet another of my obsessions is Shadows- shadows on trees, shadows of trees...any kind of shadows. So in this post I will show the shadows of leaves that have recently caught my eye. The first four images are of shadows on a Pittosporum Tree, in the grounds of the property on Broadway Blvd/26th Street that I recently wrote about in my post "Tree-for-All"





The next three are of shadows on Moreton Bay Fig trees on La Mesa Drive, that I have written about many times:




Finally, here are shadows of a Fern Tree on the sidewalk of a street near La Brea Blvd that I saw when I was walking with my Granddaughter Violet in her stroller, while her mother was in a meeting:

A Baby Egret!

Those who have followed my Malibu Great Egret Nest Watch will understand my delight at seeing a little white, fluffy head popping up out of one of the three Egret nests in the Ficus tree at the Malibu Country Mart! It has been impossible to see inside the nests as they are so high up in the tree- it was just luck that I suddenly saw it when I checked the nest after hearing a loud baby bird cry following the partner bird's visit.

I say "partner" because both birds incubate the eggs and feed the chicks, although it is the male bird who builds the nest out of twigs (perhaps if it was the female bird the nests would be more feminine and downy?- or am I being sexist?) BEFORE he chooses his mate.

Apparently, although 1-6 eggs are laid Great Egrets often only end up with one nestling because the strongest one will sometimes kill his weaker siblings! Also, the chicks have a tendency to climb out of the nest...AND they often fall prey to predators- and I have witnessed Crows in the tree on several occasions... Listing all this tragic info has made me realize how lucky I was to see ONE baby Egret!

Because the nest was so high and was obscured somewhat by leaves, my photos of the chick are not as clear as I would have liked- but at least I have some to complete my vigil of the last few weeks. When I say "complete" this does not mean that I have finished with the Egrets- I still have more images to show in another post.

In the meantime, here are some images of the conquering, surviving Egret Chick. The day began grey but later brightened up- if you look carefully, you will decipher the chick's head through the twigs of the nest:


Here it brightens up and it is easier to see the chick:


In the next two photos you can see the chick trying to induce food from his parent's beak:



Taken while it was still grey, one would like to think that this one shows the parent bird protecting his babe with his wing- but no, he is just preening himself...


Since taking these last photos, it has dawned on me that this period I have spent here in Los Angeles since November, has been focused entirely on Nests, Birth and Nestlings- starting with the amazing birth of my first Granddaughter Violet, including the Mourning Dove's nest and ending with the birth of the Egret- who's progress has totally obsessed me...

Musical Postscript to Arbor Day

Having read my post about Santa Monica's Arbor Day celebrations, Sunny Wieler of Stone Art's Blog drew my attention to one he had written: it is about a sound designer and composer- Diego Stocco- who created a piece of music using a tree in his garden as his instrument.


It is well worth reading- and you can hear the results of Diego Stocco's experiments- so click on this link:

Earth Day and Arbor Day

Yesterday- April 22nd- Earth Day and Arbor Day were jointly celebrated in Santa Monica by the planting of two substantial Camphor trees in Los Amigos Park. The planting of the trees was watched and assisted by the students of two local schools- Santa Monica Alternative School House (SMASH) and John Muir Elementary School. The trees were supplied by Santa Monica City Council.

Camphor trees are natives of Taiwan, Southern Japan, South East China and Indochina.

One would have liked to see more than two trees being planted- some cities plant hundreds of trees- but two trees is better than none. Also, it is good to be able to write of trees being planted rather than being destroyed.

As I was unable to get there, I am showing a photo from the Santa Monica Daily Press:
Photo: Brandon Wise
Last month I wrote at some length about the origins of Arbor Day: Link

Tree-For-All

Tree-For-All consists of a committee of Santa Monica Treesavers. Their agenda is to save trees, shrubs and plants that would otherwise be destroyed by new developments or new landscaping, by recycling them. This is achieved- with the co-operation of the Developers- by allowing individuals or companies to come to the sites where they can have the trees or plants free, as long as they are responsible for digging them up and removing them.

The first site to welcome Tree-For-All was one at 2602 Broadway, Santa Monica, where the Community Corporation of Santa Monica is planning to build Affordable Housing. It has wonderful grounds, full of amazing mature trees and flowers. In an ideal world, the development would have been built around these trees, and thus enriched the whole project without damaging the environment. However, at least in this case the Project Manager has bent over backwards to try to save as many trees as possible.

Over several months, by holding Open Days, 60 items have so far been rescued. Alas, the mature trees have not yet found homes, which is a tragedy as they are exceptional and would be of immense benefit to the community.

In the first section of this post I will show some of my favourite trees on the site and in the second I will show images from a recent Open Day.

PART ONE:

I will start with shots of the magnificent Pittosporum, which has a trunk that always reminds me of a pregnant woman- especially since my daughter was pregnant when I first saw it!





There are many hedges of Bottle Brush trees and there is a possibility these are going to find a home. Here is one of their flowers:


A tree that has been admired by very many people- but received no bids as yet, in spite of an offer to help with costs from the Project Manager- is this delightful, spherical Italian Stone Pine:


There is a profusion of a wide variety of Camellias, which the Project Manager has generously offered to dig up and box ready for collection. This will happen shortly, and here are some of the blooms:







Finally, another of my very favourite trees is this outrageous Pepper Tree:




PART TWO: OPEN DAY

A good collection of delightful, environmentally aware people came to this Open Day, all appreciating the whole concept. They came prepared to dig, but some planned to come later to pick up larger items they had earmarked. Here, some of the enthusiasts are checking out what's on offer:

And here a child finds a Dandelion clock under a Lemon Tree!


The next four images show some of the intrepid Diggers:





And next they carry off their wares to their cars:




Here they load up their cars:



And there is not much room in the passenger seat:

Should anyone be interested in this particular project, please contact me through "comments" and I can give you a contact's details.