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THE
SENTINEL always for the community VOL 23, NO 4
Arts • Activities • Auto • Business • Gardening • Seniors and more...
Happy Mother’s Day May 13 May 2018
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SPOTLIGHT
First place category winners with local elected officials and representatives. Photo by: Lara George
Young San Ramon Valley Filmmakers Honored at Street Smarts “Be Reel!” Video Contest Awards Ceremony! Over 220 parents, students, school staff members and elected officials came to view the creative work of 65 aspiring filmmakers from San Ramon Valley middle schools at the Street Smarts “Be Reel!” Video Contest Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 at the Danville Village
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On Saturday, April 21 Danville residents gathered at the Town Green in front of the Danville Library on Front Street to enjoy the eighth annual Earth day Celebration, that featured educational green events for the whole family. The day also had a creek walk led by the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District’s Friends of the San Ramon Creek. This inclusive and fun day was free and not to be missed next year!
Red-Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) by James Hale
One of our most beautiful resident birds of prey is the Red-Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus). In the past three decades, their population in Contra Costa County and other, mostly coastal, regions of California have recovered dramatically. The first known nesting in the county since 1915 wasn’t until 1979, when a pair with a fledgling was noted near Clayton along Morgan Territory Road. Red-Shouldered Hawks have become a common roadside sight, rebounding from extreme rarity. The clearing of mature forests, principally the wet hardwood forests they prefer, caused population densities to decrease drastically. The change in habitat favored their cousin, the Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), which experienced a general population increase. Unchecked hunting of raptors, with the greater availability of firearms in the early 1900’s, further
contributed to their demise. The pesticide DDT caused egg shell thinning in many birds, including Red-Shouldered Hawks, and the breakable shells reduced their ability to reproduce. Local forest regrowth and the ban of hunting and DDT allowed Red-Shouldered Hawk populations to become more stable. However, human activity, including logging, habitat loss, poisoning from other pesticides and industrial pollutants, continue to threaten t h i s s p e c i e s . Ac c i d e n t a l collisions with power lines, automobiles, and at wind farms kills many birds annually. The coloration of RedShouldered Hawk plumage is quite striking. Adults have finely barred, intensely reddish heads and underparts. The back and wings are boldly dark and
light checkered. The multibanded tail is distinguishable. The red “shoulders” are visible in perching birds. Smaller than Red-tailed Hawks, the RedShouldered Hawk, may weigh 1.5 pounds, with a length of two feet and a wingspan of just over four feet. Like most raptors, females are slightly larger than
This month’s Special Sections:
Spring Home & Garden pages 8-9 Senior Services pages 10-11
males. In Contra Costa County, Red-Shouldered Hawks live in riparian and oak woodlands, and also in Eucalyptus groves and residential areas. They prefer to nest in Sycamore trees (Platanus racemosa) See HAWK page 5