Berkeley's namesake...across the pond

The Castle, Berkeley, England, between ca. 1890 and ca. 1900, Detroit Publishing Co., Library of Congress collection

The University of California (formerly the College of California) in Berkeley and subsequently the city that formed around the university were named after Bishop Berkeley, a philosopher, who's writings inspired one of the university-town founders, Frederick Billings. The particular saying that inspired Billings: "Westerward the course of empire takes it way" (read the Wikipedia entry about Founders' Rock).

Bishop George Berkeley, an Irish philosopher, "was born at his family home, Dysart Castle, near Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland, the eldest son of William Berkeley, a cadet of the noble family of Berkeley" (read Wikipedia's entry about George Berkeley). The Berkeley family's London home was located in Berkeley Square while its country home was The Castle in Berkeley, England.

Gates of Berkeley, part 3

Some of the gems discovered on the Hidden Gems of Berkeley walking tour last weekend were...gates!

The gate is an "archetypal element" in the creation of sacred space (Elizabeth Murray, Cultivating Sacred Space, 1997). The gate, according to Murray,

signifies transcendence, departure from one world to the next--wild to cultivated; public to private. An invitation to go deeper, into an inner sanctum--symbolic death of the familiar to rebirth of a more intimate inner knowledge of self.

Gate, Morning Glory Cottage (also known as the Joseph Clapp Cottage, landmarked house on Berkeley Way

Bird Watch: A complex, elevated, pendulous nest

Update: This entry was started on April 4 and completed on May 17. In May we noticed that the nest had been destroyed.

A few months ago, we spied a complex, elevated nest in a front yard tree growing adjacent to the sidewalk. It is not cupped like the hummingbird nest, rather, it is pendulous.

So, which species of bird constructed this nest?

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology via its Nest Watch website provides clues to identify birds' nests based on including region, habitat, height above the ground, size, and nest material, but recommends a field guide to birds’ nests, too. Without such a guide on my bookshelves, I continued searching the web. Unfortunately, the search did not yield any i.d. clues, then.

Next, I did what I should have done from the start. I searched the catalogue of my local library for birds' nests i.d. books. I found "A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds" by Hal H. Harrison. However, for various reasons (general busyness), I have not borrowed the book from the library. I searched the internet once again and came across "Birds' Nests: An Introduction to the Science of Caliology" by Charles Dixon (1902). Dixon wrote that the Penduline titmouse builds pendulous nests. The local titmouse is the Oak titmouse:

4-5", year-round, grayish body, jaunty crest, light gray throat and underparts (Local Birds of Northern California Backyards & Trail Birds).

It is possible that the nest was built by a Wilson's warbler (4-5"; spring, summer, fall resident; olive above, bright yellow below; yellow face with black cap; longish tail) or a Bullock's oriole (7-8"; spring, summer resident; orange and yellow; black crown, eye line and throat; large white wing patch on dark gray wings).

Do you know?

Street tree canopy: Delaware Street

Interim-Tree Walk entry.

Buckeyes Horsechestnuts adorn the block of Delaware adjacent to the Ohlone Greenway, and as far as my eye could see.

Street tree canopy: California Street

Interim-Tree Walk entry.

Looking north (above) and south (below) red oaks line California between University Avenue and Dwight Way.

The City of Berkeley does not provide a list of street trees online but a tree guide - the Illustrated Guide to Berkeley Street Trees - is available at all of the city's libraries. From the Parks, Recreation & Waterfront website:

The species of tree to be planted on a specific street, along with the planting location is determined by the City. If a species has not been designated for a specific street, staff will be happy to work with the neighborhood in selecting an appropriate species. Every effort will be made to select a species compatible with the existing tree plantings on the street, the neighborhood identity, the mature size of the tree, space available for the tree to grow, the presence of underground and overhead utility lines, utility poles, streetlights, driveway approaches and fire hydrants.

New neighborhood nature-making profile: Garden for the Birds, a Mission Greenbelt Garden at the Sangati Center.

Building small after a fire

San Francisco Fire, April 18, 1906, viewed from the St. Francis Hotel, copyright claimant Pillsbury Picture Co., Library of Congress collection

Image: Oakland, NASA Ames Research Center DART

Across the bay, on October 20, 1991, during "the fifth year of drought" in the East Bay, "'a single ember'" started the Oakland and Berkeley Hills Fire (Shay Salomon, Little House on a Small Planet, 2006). The fire has been described as a firestorm because it created its own weather (P. Lamont Ewell 1995). Twenty five people died, 3,469 living units were destroyed, and 1,520 acres burned, according to Captain Parker of the Oakland Office of Fire Services.

Image: The remains of a house, NASA Ames Research Center DART

In the aftermath of the fire, a resident of the Oakland Hills, Polly Strand, rebuilt in the footprint of the surviving structure on her private property, a guest house atop the garage. The new house is "a 610-square-foot 'jewel box' overlooking an 8,000-square-foot yard {one can imagine the size of the original main house}" (Salomon).

Three men at San Felipe de Neri

The Old Town of Albuquerque retains several features of Laws of the Indies planning codes which were applied to Mexican and Spanish settlements in the western regions of the U.S., or the "Hispanic West" (John W. Reps, The Forgotton Frontier: Urban Planning in the American West before 1890).

A bit of a grid of streets remain. There is a main plaza, Old Town Plaza, that contains a rotunda. The church, an important building, is located across from Old Town Plaza, on the plaza's north side. It is the entry to the San Felipe de Neri churchyard that is shown in the photograph. It was a sunny but cold day. Three men took advantage of the wall seat and nearby car to relax, chat, and enjoy the sun. Seating areas and sun. Two elements importance to the success of a public space (William H. Whyte, The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces).

My secret about posting: lately, I write ahead. I am steeped in my research project and so use chunks of spare time to write a few posts. Have been neglecting one of my favorite types of posts - Tree Walk - and so offer Bronwnyn Chester's Tree Tuesday at Spacing Montreal. Also, read short contributions via @localecologist.

Happy Greenery Day

Courtesy E.S.-T.P.

Greenery Day or Midori no Hi is celebrated today, May 4, in Japan. (Midori means green and Hi means day.) The holiday honors former Emperor Showa who "loved plants and nature" (he died in 1989). The original celebration used to take place on the emperor's birthday, April 29.

According to japan-guide.com, "Before being declared Greenery Day, May 4 used to be a national holiday due to a law, which declares a day, that falls between two national holidays, a national holiday." Greenery Day is part of Golden Week, a week of holidays, in Japan.

Greenery Day comes on the heels of Earth Day and Arbor Day, both celebrated in April.

Bird's eye view, Civic Plaza, Albuquerque

I really do think the official paint color of Albuquerque (ABQ) is turquoise. Several structures in Civic Plaza, at the center of the city's civic and hotel district, are painted turquoise. This district was the result of a redevelopment project in the late 1960s, the Tijeras Urban Renewal Project.

The photographs were taken from a nearby hotel room. From that vantage point, the plaza seemed vast and eye-candyish. The plantings on the southern edge reminded me of the works of Roberto Burle Marx.

In contrast, on the ground, the plaza did not feel like I.M. Pei's design for the Boston City Hall plaza - intimidating, overwhelming. The plaza is nicely segmented with shorts flights of steps, planters, small patches of lawn, and trees (mostly ash, maybe the Arizona ash). The plaza sits above a parking garage and an event space is located at the Marquette edge.

Although the temperature was cold (thankfully the sun was out), people did not avoid the plaza. I observed people walking through it (not quickly), people sitting in it (three men: one was reading, one was carving a walking stick, and one was combing his mustache), and people planning an event.

Another interesting element of the plaza is the sculpture of former New Mexico Senator Dennis Chavez by Cynthia and J. Mark Rowland titled "El Senador" (1997).

Across Tijeras is another sculpture, "Sidewalk Society," by Glenna Goodacre. Although I did not observe this level of sidewalk life in this district, the sculpture is a nice complement to El Senador.