Malibu: Communal Nesting in Ficus Trees

In my last post I wrote about the shocking rape of the Malibu Lagoon.  One of my fears has been for the affects on the wonderful members of the Heron family who nest in the two Ficus trees in the car park at Malibu Country Mart.  These are:  the Great Blue Heron, the Black Crowned Night Heron, the Great Egret and the Snowy Egret. When the de-watering takes place, where will they fish for their youngsters?  And if the Lagoon becomes a salt lake instead of a fresh-water wetland where nearby will they find food?

I wrote extensively about these birds in 2010.  I find the set-up totally delightful on two counts: first, that  these four varieties of Herons share their tenement-like habitat and secondly that they nest in the heart of this up-market shopping centre, disregarding the expensive cars parked by unsuspecting clientele beneath the trees...As one shopper said to me, it was great that these birds could nest there for free, when real  estate costs were astronomic! 

From the Pacific Coast Highway, you can see the trees;  I always anxiously look to see if the birds are there.  Below, you can just discern the white shapes of Egrets on the larger of the trees:   

When I first returned to the site early this year, there was the Great Blue Heron staking his claim on top of the large tree.  In 2010 he was a constant visitor but did not nest there- or not when I was in the country.  An advantage I had that year was that the host tree had been heavily over-pruned- something I disapprove of, but in this case giving me fairly clear views of both the Great Egrets and their nests.  This year, however the tree had been treated with more respect, meaning I could really only see the birds when they were on top of the canopy:

Here are the two Ficus':  Previously, I had only seen the Great Egrets nesting in the larger of the trees to the left:

This year, a swarm of Snowy Egrets made their home in the smaller tree.  Below, you can just see one of them: 

 I have always loved the animal-like trunk of this ficus:

The amount of birds in the trees has been phenomenal- many Great Egrets plus a pair of Great Blue Herons nesting in the big tree and countless Snowy Egrets in the little one, and all with chicks.  The noise can be deafening.  When I was taking photos, a regular question from shoppers  was: "Are there monkey's up there?". 

Below is what I describe as the large tree:

And here are a couple of the Great Egret's nests- bundles of sticks:

Here, one of them is about to do some nest repair work with a twig:

And here below is one of the Black Crowned Night Herons about to do something similar with his twig in the smaller tree.  In past years they have nested in a nearby Coral tree but this year I kept seeing them in this tree so suspected they were nesting there, but the foliage was too thick to check.

Here is a nest of some of the noisy Great Egret chicks:

And off flies the parent bird...

As I have said, the birds were mostly in evidence on the top of the trees.  Watching out for them was like anticipating a fantastic puppet show- you never knew whose head was going to pop up next...
Here, a Great Blue Heron keeps an eye on one of the Egrets:

 

Sometimes, the light was so bright that I could not clearly see what was happening as heads rapidly bobbed up and down and it was only when I downloaded the images that I realized how many heads there actually were: 

I find it fascinating how similar the Great Blue Herons and the Great Egrets are, especially in their neck movements:

I am totally obsessed by these birds and just love watching their interactions- I find it as absorbing as any theatrical performance...

One of the funny things is how ungainly these large birds are in the tree tops as they flop about from one too slender branch to another...

Here one of the parent birds takes off:

When I was involved with a nest of our British Grey Herons a couple of years ago, I was fascinated to watch the squabbling among the young siblings, who often were really vicious to each other.  Similarly, these young Great Egrets had great, noisy battles when a parent bird came with food:

And similarly the Great Blue Herons were constantly breaking out in fights both with each other and with intruders who came too close:

On the other hand, this Great Blue Heron seemed quite happy to let this immature young Night Heron sit nearby:

There were at least two young Night Herons flying from tree to tree, and here is one of them:

I find the parent Black Crowned Night Herons a delight:

I realize I have here rather ignored the pretty little Snowy Egrets, who were always frantically busy in their tree, but I'm afraid it was their larger relations who took my attention over these last weeks.  My final images are of Great Egrets in one of the two trees alongside the Ficus', which I believe are Norfolk Island Pines (Araucaria heterophylla):

Their cones reminded me of those on a Bunya-Bunya tree which are spectacular and can be massive!

This Egret was perched on the very top of the tree, reminding me of a Christmas tree Angel!

And then he flew away..

Bunya-Bunya Tree: Cones

Recently I wrote about Santa Monica Treesaver's success saving the Bunya -Bunya Tree in Douglas Park. I have just received a couple of Treesaver emails giving me more information about the Cones.

Treesaver Dan Jansenson supplies this info:

"The cones of this tree contain about 50 nuts, each about the size of a large thumb. In the Australasian regions, the nuts are often roasted or barbecued, popping spectacularly, and then blended with honey for very tasty spreads. They are also used for a unique variation on pesto (as a replacement for pine nuts).

In the old days, Australian aborigines would gather every three years (during bumper crops), harvest the nuts and bury them in the ground. After a few months the nuts were ready to be eaten, having developed soft sprouts."

In a forwarded email from Councilmember Kevin McKeown (the one and only committed environmentalist on the City Council) he describes how 15 cones have now been removed from the tree in Douglas Park, for pedestrians' safety. The largest weighed 22lbs and the smaller ones were softball size. From the tree outside City Hall 21 cones were removed, the largest weighing 15lbs and the smaller ones also were softball size.

Kevin supplied this spectacular photo of the largest cone adjacent to a soup can:

Bunya- Bunya Tree

Notice of Intent to Remove Park Tree, SM City
Over the years one of my favorite places in Santa Monica has been Douglas Park. Off Wilshire Boulevard, it was only a short walk from my apartment in Yale Street. With its many fascinating trees, its ponds with exotic, iridescent Mallards, Turtles and visiting Herons and Egrets I always found something exciting to lift my spirits in this oasis. I regularly sat with a book and my camera on a large boulder by the pond. I regarded it as MY park.

Because of this I was particularly distressed to read in one of my emails from fellow Treesavers that one of the magnificent trees there was condemned to be killed. This was the Bunya- Bunya tree, Araucaria bidwilli, a native of Queensland- sometimes known as the False Monkey Puzzle.

Suddenly the City had decided that this historic tree- of a genus that goes back 250 million years to the Mesozoic and Jurassic era and can live to 1,200 years and grow to 160ft- was a danger to the public and must go.

The reason? the fruits of this tree- the cones- grow to a massive size in the Fall and can weigh up to 18lbs.

It cannot be denied that if one of these cones fell on one it would be traumatic- however it took Treesavers to point out to the City that there were other less drastic steps they could take- such as the simple solution of fencing the area off during the critical time.

Treesavers canvassed residents in the park, staging a visual protest- with Louise as an imploring Dryad trying to fend off Bill as he attempted a chain-saw massacre while Joe sat singing peacefully with his guitar...Many signatures were collected and remarkably the City for once saw sense and Treesavers were triumphant- the Bunya-Bunya was saved. Congratulations Treesavers!

Ironically, during their research Treesavers had located one of these deadly trees outside City Hall (4th image)...

The leaves of the Bunya-Bunya are reminiscent of its relation, the Monkey Puzzle. The Monkey Puzzle- Araucaria araucana, or the Chilean Pine, originating in Chile and Argentina- has also been having problems in the UK:

These eccentric trees are thought to have been introduced into the UK by the plant collector Archibald Menzies in 1795. All these years they have been regarded as both special and acceptable. However, Swansea has now decided that their sharp leaves are as dangerous to children as hypodermic syringes; so this 150 year old tree is facing the chop. Back to the Nanny State....

Following Photos: Supplied by Louise Steiner except final image from Daily Mail