La Quinta Cove

After an Easter hiatus, the Farmers Market will be back on Sunday from 8:30 – noon.  Lots of fresh fruits and veggies, flowers, spices, breads, oils, plus music and a chance to see your neighbors strolling about.

A recent Nature Walk, sponsored by the City of La Quinta and the Stewards of the Fred Wolff Nature Preserve, focused on bird watching.  Here, Sandy Swan, local naturalist, discusses how to attract migratory birds to your own yard.

http://youtu.be/uyr36QC9F9o

Speaking, unfortunately, from experience, this moderator recommends that you all BACK up the data on your hard drives, lest a catastrophe occur and you lose your precious files and photos.

DON’T THINK: IT CAN’T HAPPEN TO ME!!!!

Very soon there may again be some visuals on this website.

This reader was alarmed to see beautiful blooming palo verde trees being extracted from the center landscaping area on La Fonda in the Village yesterday and today.  Upon good authority, the reason is that six of those beautiful palo verdes were found to be infected and needed to be removed.  They will be replaced.  Although it’s always a tragedy when a lovely tree is killed, now we understand, it is for good reason.  Hopefully this will protect the other remaining trees.

We have a situation in our neighborhood which could be avoided. We need help!
There is a nesting pair of Roadruners in our yard. They have produced 3 babies. We found one dead. The second is walking around now, after his parents, begging for food, being adorable and very roadrunner like. But the third has deformed feet and legs. This occurs when roadrunners are fed hamburger. It does not have enough calcium for a baby roadrunner. And, of course, it’s an easy handout dinner (fastfood!) if residents provide it…much easier than hunting for that lizard or mouse to feed the babies. We have seen our parents hop over our fence with beaks full of hamburger and it is heartbreaking. As it is heartbreaking to watch this 3rd baby struggle to walk. He can’t. He falls, sits, tips, but he’s not gonna make it. A roadrunner who can’t run, will not live.
If you really feel the urge to feed these cute guys, the local pet stores sell meal worms!! or crickets..!! Please help get the word out!
I volunteer many hours at the Coachella Valley Wild Bird Center in Indio…an amazing rehab place for native wild birds. I think Linda York, our director, would love to help anyone understand these issues! Thanks!

Alas, the little thing has met his (or her) end.  Earlier in the week, one of the early morning duck-watchers at the Civic Center Park found the little fellow “upside down”.  She was afraid the others would peck on him so she took him home, hoping that she could help him recover.  Not to be.  He succumbed to the inevitable.

Come and see performers of all ages strutting their stuff from 6-8:30 p.m. on Friday (15th).  It’s free and it ought to be great fun.

Among the 50-60 crop of baby ducks at the Civic Center park is this lone albino.  Smaller and more frail that any of the others, it’s chances for survival are tricky.  These ducklings are growing up quickly, so if you want to see them. waddle on down and take a look.  BUT REMEMBER, no feeding the ducks.  Why?

• Bread and other carbs like popcorn, chips, etc. are junk food to the ducks and makes them obese (just like they do for humans!)
• Being hand fed is nunnaural and makes duck lazy and unable to forage for themselves.  Don’t teach them bad habits.
• A high-carb diet leads to more defecation (yuk) and to disease including avian botulism and lung disease.
• So, if you love the ducks, don’t feed them….it’s duck abuse!

The switch to drought-resistant landscaping has been completed at the Community Policing building in the Village.  Here’s a little tour of the improvements.

Also, you may have noticed the ripping out of sod along La Fonda in front of the Senior Center, Library, Civic Center Park and City Hall.  These are destined for similar new landscaping, as well as the flagged areas along Tampico for these same buildings.  We are told that a MILLION gallons of water is used to irrigate city land, and this amount will be reduced by these improvements.

Here’s a glimpse of the CERT trainees’ class in the Emergency Operations Center in the basement of  LQ City Hall.  When the Big One comes, this will be the nerve center of the emergency response by City staff and other agencies, such as the fire department, Red Cross, utilities, and trailed CERT volunteers.