crayonsss's Journal

The "Abode at Glassell Park" development was denied permits by the City of Los Angeles. The reason given was the developer did not submit required fees and documents within the allotted time. Now the property (about 5 acres) is on the market. It will probably be hard to sell to a developer, due to the rising costs and practical issues surrounding building in hillsides.

This is good news for us (Friends Of Walnut Canyon- those of us who worked to stop the development). I like to think that our opposition and communications with the City held up the project long enough to make it unfeasible to start.

Our mission now is to work with nonprofit, government and private agencies to obtain funding to purchase the property so it can remain "passive recreation".

I'm participating in the Griffith Park Raptor Survey again, this time I have a Great Horned Owl nest to monitor. (My local Red-tails are not nesting again this year, apparently deterred by Ravens.) These are the data and notes I submitted about my bi-weekly nest observation. (Address has been redacted.) So often, on any wildlife study, the subject animal does not appear in person, you must rely on evidence like scats to learn about it. My notes describe what it's like to participate in such a study on a night the subject animal does show up!

"Observations 2022

GHOW-LA-114

Visit # 6

SStreaser
May 01
2.0hr
GHOW-LA-114
Visit # 6

GHOW

Hunting
Not seen, but probably at least 1
Good
Notes: Left home at 7:15pm, walked around the hill to Oban Dr. I stopped at (address) Oban Dr, near intersection with Palmero, searched the tall pine where I've seen owls previously, but none this evening. Arrived at my observation spot by utility pole about 7:25pm. There was still light in the sky and many bird sounds. There was fresh whitewash and a pellet on ground by the pole. Two residents on Oban reported hearing owls nightly, near the bend in road, which is between Palmero Dr and my observation spot. I waited, watching nest until significantly dark, but saw no movement at nest, no sight or sounds of owls nearby. So I walked uphill toward home.

Walking by the dried, grassy hillside lot at (address) Oban, I saw, silhouetted against the dim sky, a large lump on a wire just a few feet above my head. Thought it might be part of the cable system, but I didn't remember it being there before. Binocular view showed it had 2 big yellow eyes. Of course it's an owl- waiting above the grassy hillside for rodents. I crossed the street to give it space, but it flew away in direction of the nest. So I walked downhill to my observation spot. I waited there, watching until after dark, but no owl arrived at the nest. So I walked uphill toward home.

Again walking past the grassy lot, now 2 large lumps with "pointy ears" were silhouetted on the wire. I watched them from a driveway across the narrow street. They would sometimes stretch their necks upward, slightly turning, tilting and bobbing their heads, apparently triangulating on sounds in the grass below. I moved my foot slightly, softly scraping a few sand grains on pavement. Both owl heads jerked around in my direction, then slowly turned back to the grass. After about 15 minutes, one fluttered silently down, disappearing from my sight, against the hillside. All I heard was a faint "pffff" of grass as it landed. Then the other followed, making its own faint "pfff" in the grass. A few minutes later one rose up and flew toward Palmero Dr, where it would have a clear path to the nest. So I walked downhill to my observation spot. No owls came to the nest, so I walked uphill and home.

Summary: Two adult owls were hunting as a team, indicating they probably have at least 1 chick in the nest."

So-
The last few years have been challenging for me. Most importantly, my mother died, leaving me to figure out my life of my own. No matter how old you are, losing your last parent is devastating, there's no way around it.

Being in nature, especially the hillsides in my own neighborhood, has been the most healing thing for me. I still make observations and add them to iNaturalist, for my project to save the hills from development. Yes, this project is ongoing. Development is still planned, but there's no timetable until the EIR is released, which has been in process for 3 years.

My friends and I in the committee "Friends Of Walnut Canyon" are hopeful for a result that shows the City of Los Angeles values wildlife and nature as much as they claim to. We continue efforts to preserve the hillside for recreational and educational use.

There are at least four Great Horned owls in my neighborhood. Now, in mid October, they are quiet much of the time. Sometimes, however, they all get together and sing. They start with fairly random hooting, low voices and high ones, spaced about 20 seconds apart. As the hooting continues, the time between them shortens, eventually one voice overlaps another (like singing in a round), sometimes hooting in unison, building in frequency like a concert. After a few minutes they slow the pace, then rest. In that beautiful silent moment, one lone owl, as loud as possible and with perfect comedic timing, says: "eeeeyuuuuwh-UHP!"

Sunday, September 24, 2017-
About 7:30pm I visited Walnut Canyon in the dark, hoping to see whatever rodents make the small circular holes in the dirt road. It was quiet in the Walnut Woodland, except for the sounds of cricket chirps and a couple of ticking katydids. When I turned to leave, a black, elongated shape glided silently over me and disappeared in the darkness downhill. A minute or so later, three Great Horned Owls began their nightly hoo-h-hoo's. Apparently I had arrived early for an 8:30pm concert.

Every time I visit Walnut Canyon I photograph a species I have not documented on the property before, this time I photographed a Western Brush Cricket and a live Jerusalem Cricket, while the owls sang all around me. I have still not seen the rodents that make any of the holes. What time do they come out and make these holes? There are thousands of them!

The GHO's in my neighborhood constantly surprise me with sounds I didn't know they could make. If I hear a weird sound outside at night, and it's not identifiable as an animal I recognize, then it's probably a Great Horned Owl. (Except when it's a bat or other owl species, which are not frequent.) I don't know what any of these sounds mean to the owls. Here is what I have heard so far:

"H-hooo, hoo-hoo"- (Also "Hoo-h-hoo, hoo-hoo" & other variations) Most frequent stereotypical owl sounds, varies by individual, or perhaps their mood, season, weather, or other factors. Seems like an individual sticks with their own sound, almost always with a skip in the pattern, but others will sometimes alter their own and sing overlapping, or in unison with another owl. Pattern usually repeats about 20 seconds apart. Sometimes one will give just one or two hoo's.

Raspy sqeak or squawk- Single loud, screechy sound, similar to Barn Owl. Most frequently heard last spring when young were fledging, but still being fed. They still make this sound, however, at end of summer, but not as often. They used to do it all night, repeated about every 20 seconds.

Whistle- Loud whistle, 1-2 seconds long, rising or falling, seemingly random sound, not musical. Infrequently done.

Barks- Sounds like a dog you've never heard in your neighborhood before. Single bark, without the resonance of real dog barks. Repeats for a few minutes, not all night as dogs will do.

Yawls- Sounds like a cat yawling, but single, with less variation in sound, repeated a few times.

"Eyuuu-whUP"- Say this loudly in a cartoon character voice, rising in pitch at the end. Also can be a raspier version of this sound. Repeats several times, about 20 seconds apart.

"Phee-yuu"- High pitched sound, like that of a Northern Flicker, but softer and briefer.

"Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"-Gentle, rolling purr, heard twice at close range (shortly before I passed a tree and came nearly face to face with a Great Horned Owl).

Where did everybody go? Since mid-August I have not seen or heard owls, or the flocks of House Finches and House Sparrows that seemed to reside here permanently. Last year they disappeared in fall, eventually being replaced by a flock of Yellow-Rumped Warblers, then returned in April, after the YRW's left. We still have the local natives- Mourning Doves, Towhees, Mockingbirds, Scrub Jays, Hummingbirds, and (I think) a Wrentit. These birds are all fairly quiet. Is it like this every year, and I just never noticed?

We had 18" of rain last winter. Do some birds have a sense of approaching weather conditions, that provokes them to move away?

A week or so later, it seems the owls were not saying anything during the heat wave of August. Once the weather cooled, they were back to hooing and yawing as usual.

It started (I thought) on August 1, when I saw a bat fly from Walnut Canyon to my side of the street. However, in mid-July, I was startled at night by some loud, bird-like noises in my back yard. It was something like "tweetly-eetly-eetly-booply-ooply", and was repeated once. Then heard again a week or so later. I heard this sound 3 times this summer.

August 8, I noticed a dozen small, black droppings scattered outside my back door, a few even stuck to the side of the house. There are 3 to 5 added daily. My investigation showed them to be bat droppings.

I have heard a variety of high pitched cheeps, chips, chirps, squeaks and tinks at night, usually around sunset.

Aug 13, I arrived home at 6:10pm, in daylight, and found 3 soft, moist droppings near the door. They had flown by, and I had just missed them! Around 7:30pm that evening, I heard some loud cheeps outside, but not from a bird I recognized. I rushed outdoors to see some leaves & branch ends of a shrub moving, but couldn't see a bird or anything else making it move. There were more sounds, like the sounds Bushtits make, but louder and more jingly, almost musical, coming from places all around me and filling the air with sound. I looked up at the dimming sky, but saw no bats or birds flying. Behind me I heard a sound of flapping, and turned to see some thin branch ends and leaves moving wildly, just a few feet away, but could see no bird or animal causing the motions and sounds. I have yet to see them flying, but I know bats are here in my neighborhood.

I'm not easliy frightened or creeped out, and am not now, but I can understand why people in the past, or even today, would feel frightened of being in a forest at night- it's full of weird sounds made by things you can't see, even if they're right in front of you!

I walked up the trail in Walnut Canyon one afternoon, trying to net & photograph one of the numerous little butterflies (Marine Blues) that were swirling around each other in the Walnut Woodland. As I neared the top of the trail, with camera in my pocket and net in my hand, Mockingbirds & Scrub Jays were mildly scolding at me (I thought). There was also a soft, unfamiliar sound, a gentle rolling "brrrrrrrrrrrrrr", heard a couple of times, coming from the other side of the Toyon shrub in front of me. I reached the top of the trail, passing the Toyon, still focusing on the tiny bluish butterflies, and glanced left- where my eyes instantly locked onto two sparkling golden rings, surrounded by shimmery copper, further surrounded by the dark & light mottling of a Great Horned Owl! It was two yards away, on a dead branch just higher than my head, resplendent in full afternoon sunlight.

Startled, I said "oooohhhhhhh!!!" Also startled, the owl conveyed to me by expression (or by my imagination) "Gaaagghhhhhh!! What are you doing in my house?!!!!" As it shifted position I said "wait- don't fly away- I need a picture of you!!", while pulling my camera out of my pocket. The owl didn't carre about my picture- it flew away to a distant branch, where Mockingbirds and Scrub Jays there scolded it. I got a poor photo of its back, but you can see the "ears"!
Later, a neighbor told me the GHO's had two babies, which means there must be four of them in the neighborhood this summer.

Note: August 6, 2017: There are at least 4, I watched them fly over me at sunset.

I walked to Walnut Canyon with my new camera, hoping to get video or photos of the Great Horned Owls, which I hadn't heard in a few days. We were having a heat wave, and the temperature was probably still about 80 degrees F, at 9:00pm. Walnut Canyon currently looks more like a Halloween scene than a thriving forest. Most of the Southern California Walnut Trees have superficially died from the 5 year drought, but this year, after receiving over 18" of rain, are heavily leafing out, with thick green growth low on their trunks, and bare branches poking out high above. In spring they had masses of flower structures hanging down, and now in summer are dropping numerous dark brown walnuts.

While photographing Narrow-leaf Milkweed flowers on the open hillside, I heard barking coming from high in the Walnut Woodland. It sounded like a small dog giving a high-pitched "yip", every 3 or 4 seconds. The barking grew louder as I made my way along the trail, aiming my flashlight at the ground to see where I was walking. At the top of the trail in the dense forest I walked squarely into a spider web, which caused me to flail my arms, wiping web off my face. (I think I also made a sound like "eeewwwwww!!!") At the instant I jumped and began waving my arms, I heard a branch crackle in the vegetation nearly touching my head. I wondered "did I cause that sound, or did something just move on a branch near my head?"

Now pointing my flashlight higher to see & avoid more webs, I watched a pale spider, whose web I had just ruined, running as fast as it could for the shelter of some Toyon leaves. The barks were still comiing from directly in front of me, higher in the trees. I walked onward, aiming my light into the trees, camera ready in the other hand. I whispered to myself "it's right in front of me", then barking started in the Toyon tree behind me, where the spider had been. These barks were louder, a little lower pitched, at times almost growling, similar to the sounds squirrels make when alarmed. I turned, switched my camera to video, and walked toward the sound, as quietly I could, through the crunchy dried grass, leaves & twigs. Pushing my light deeper past the Toyon branches, the source of the yips came into light- a Western Screech Owl! He was adorable- a bit larger than my hand, compact but broad & rounded, mottled & streaked shades of gray, with large yellow eyes. I could see the feathers on his throat move when he barked. He tolerated my light for a few minutes, then flew across the trail, a few feet away. I resumed searching for the higher voice, again yipping in another tree, and he quickly returned to the Toyon and continued barking, drawing me back to his tree. My guess is this was the male, distracting me from finding a nest & his female. As I left, they could be heard yipping in the Walnut Woodland.

I got one video of 2 minutes, and two videos of 1 minute each. The owl is hard to see, but the sound is good. Early in the 2 minute video, 2 overlapping voices can be heard, yipping. Later the one owl's yips become 2 syllables, like "yip-uh". I don't yet know how to link video to this page.