Hummingbirds displaced by the Eaton fire are finding a new haven at a Pasadena landmark
Hummingbirds displaced by the Eaton fire are finding a new haven at a Pasadena landmark
Jared Nigro remembers he hadn’t even gotten through the first sentence of his presentation before Sheryl Scott said yes. It was only three days after the start of the Eaton Fire and Nigro, executive director of the Pasadena Audubon Society, was having coffee with Scott, who is director of communications and operations for The Gamble House.
The sad news was that the hummingbird cantina planned for the patio at Eaton Canyon Nature Center had been lost to the Jan. 7 inferno. Scott had a ready solution: move it to the garden of the historic Gamble House.
The new hummingbird haven is made up of five red feeders on metal shepherd’s poles situated around the Nancy Greene Glass Memorial Garden behind the bookstore. Set up two weeks ago, the cantina’s new home is only awaiting signage an Audubon volunteer is hand-crafting.
Visiting the space, Nigro and Scott pointed out different species of hummingbirds checking the cantina out. A gurgling fountain nearby offered feathered friends a drink or refreshing bath.
“I think this is to be just as much for the community as it is for the birds,” Nigro said. “Another place of nourishment for everyone.”
About one-third of Audubon Society members have been affected by the fires, either losing their homes to still not being able to return to ones not lost to the wildfire. The loss of Eaton Canyon Nature Center, where the group held meetings and dinners, is great.
“It was the center of a lot of stuff for us,” Nigro said. The new hummingbird cantina allows anyone to just be, he added.
“Let’s offer a new conversation that life after something devastating just is, and offer a steadiness and the thought that we have to get back to having fun,” Nigro said.
Audubon staff and volunteers are responsible for the regular maintenance and replenishing of food for the feeders. Volunteers sign up for three-month stints minding the cantina, mixing the nectar and refilling the feeders every day. Everyone from seniors to mothers with children have signed up to help, although more are welcome.
Volunteers from the Gamble House, in the meantime, keep the garden flourishing to match the new spot. They said hummingbirds will find fowl companions in regular garden visitors such as ravens, crows, hawks, and even a crane that likes to sit on the Gamble House chimney
The cantina will give hummingbirds access to food year round but especially during fall and spring migration. Hummingbirds must search for food in new areas due to the Eaton Fire and shifts in bloom cycles due to climate change. One particular sub-species, the Rufous Hummingbird, is being forced by climate change to leave its higher altitudes in the mountains to search for food.
“We hope this Cantina will keep the Rufous Hummingbird and all the other hummingbird species from traveling great distances and being forced to change their migration patterns,” said Alexandra Rasic, executive director of the Gamble House Conservancy, the nonprofit which operates the Craftsman-style masterpiece, completed in 1908 for Proctor and Gamble scions David and Mary Gamble and designed by architects Charles and Henry Greene.
The new collaboration has already created buzz for more programs between The Gamble House and the bird-lovers’ group. Offerings will include workshops on how to grow your own hummingbird garden and events highlighting ornithological themes found in the historic house, such as bats, owls and seabirds.
“We’re always trying to think of accessible events that allows to be on site and experience the house on their own,” Scott said, adding not one single person has had a negative reaction to news of the partnership. “It brings so much joy to everyone.”
One particular Altadena native met the news of the installation with poignant delight. Virginia Hales is the sister of Nancy Greene Glass, for whom the Gamble House garden is named. Rasic said their grandfather, Henry Greene, one of the architects of The Gamble House, lived in a 1926 Mediterranean Revival home on La Solana Avenue in Altadena.
Virginia and Nancy Greene held many happy memories of growing up in the home, which was designated a county historical landmark in 1924. It was one of many notable homes lost to the Eaton Fire.
Rasic said Hales remembers “hunting” to see if they could spy hummingbirds in that home’s garden and that the new hummingbird home base would make her sister happy.
Visitors have really enjoyed learning about the collaboration with Pasadena Audubon, too.
“We need things that bring the community together more than ever,” Rasic said.
The Gamble House welcomes everyone to its free Respite Recitals Sundays this month, featuring local musicians performing on the rear terrace of the home, not far from the new cantina. Performers include the Antonio Carter Quintet playing jazz standards from 4 to 5 p.m. on March 9; Sunday the Band performing pop hits on March 16; Birdhouse rock on March 23; and Scarlett and the Fever bringing soul to the garden on March 30.
Bird-sits on the Gamble House lawn are set from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Saturdays, April 12 and May 10. For more information, visit gamblehouse.org.
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