animals

On April 13th, 2012, A CARDINAL NEST…

mama and eggs in a cardinal nest

…in the low bushes of my nephews backyard where we get a good view of the skittish somber colored brown mama on her little eggs.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 13, 2012 | animals
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On February 15th, 2012, ROTTERDAM PORT PONDS FOR TOADS…

a thin layer of ice covers the toad mating ponds while they hibernate elsewhere

…(endangered Natterjack Toads) were created by some sensitive folks from the Port of Rotterdam and the Bureau Stadsnatuur Rotterdam to provide a place for these little creatures to mate in the summer, strangely surrounded by this extreme industrial landscape of one of the largest ports in the world, where we are driving around today gathering information and inspiration for the upcoming 9th edition of Animal Estates here later this year, commissioned by the Port and SKOR.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 15, 2012 | animals
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On February 14th, 2012, CHICKENS AT THE PORT…

a small car and house as chicken refuge

…accommodated in a cute little red wood house next to a half buried tiny car in a fenced-in pen surrounded by a vast post-human industrial landscape was a surprising/exciting thing to discover out the door of the Port of Rotterdam offices – where the kitchen ladies are tending them for the eggs, served to the workers.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 14, 2012 | animals
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On November 30th, 2011, A COHABITABLE ARCHITECTURE BAT WORKSHOP…

a Cohabitable Architecture bat workshop meeting at the London Animal Estates HQ conference table

…kicked off the series today at the Animal Estates London HQ, Urban Wildlife Client Services, and we’re getting reports back of good times with bat ecolocation device demonstrations…

This workshop proposes the design of cohabitable space that is to be shared between bats and humans. Through the acts of drawing and model making we will attempt to explore means of cohabitation between species. In traditional bat mitigation projects a small percentage of space is given for bat habitation within agricultural buildings with the majority of space allocated for human habitation. In order to subvert this idea we will design structures where bats take up 90% of the space and humans the remaining 10%. Inverting the proportion of living space allows us to explore aspects of the bat world that will assist us in designing the human space. Aspects such as flight, blindness, suspension, inversion and clustering will be explored regarding the human side of the cohabitation.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 30, 2011 | Animal Estates
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On October 20th, 2011, ‘AVIAN ARCHITECTURE’…

'Avian Architecture', 2011

…is the awesome new book – I just borrowed from my brother for some inspiring travel reading – by Peter Goodfellow from Princeton University Press all about the crazy brilliant things that birds build which make even the most sophisticated human architect look pretty primitive in comparison.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 20, 2011 | animals, books
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On October 13th, 2011, ‘MEET THE ANIMAL CLIENTS PART I’…

Animal Estates London HQ opening

…was the opening event of the Animal Estates London HQ: Urban Wildlife Client Services this evening attracting a group of a few hundred to hear from local bird, bat & bees experts presenting their subjects.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 13, 2011 | Animal Estates
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On October 12th, 2011, OPENING EVENT FOR ANIMAL ESTATES 8.0: LONDON…

Animal Estates 8.0: London, poster #02 - opening event

…is tomorrow night!

ANIMAL ESTATES LONDON HQ: URBAN WILDLIFE CLIENT SERVICES
at ARUP Phase 2, 8 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 4BJ, October 13th, 2011 – January 20th, 2012

Opening Event…*
MEET THE ANIMAL CLIENTS Part I: Birds, Bees, & Bats, Thursday 13 October 2011, 6.00pm—8.30pm
*Produced in collaboration with the inmidtown Habitats Competition run by the Architecture Foundation and inmidtown

Presentations by local animal experts at 7.00pm…
KELLY GUNNELL will speak on London’s bats. Kelly Gunnell works for the Bat Conservation Trust as the Built Environment Officer with the remit to facilitate solutions for bat conservation in the construction sector and urban areas.
RICHARD JONES will speak on London’s bees. Entomologist Richard Jones has been fascinated by wildlife since a childhood exploring the South Downs and Sussex Weald; he now carries out invertebrate surveys, and writes about insects for BBC Wildlife Magazine and Gardeners’ World.
PETER HOLDEN will speak on London’s Common Swifts and House Sparrows. A senior RSPB manager for over 40 years, ornithologist and wildlife expert Peter Holden has written many books on birds, including the RSPB Handbook of British Birds.

Native London Wildlife…
8.01 Bees (multiple species)
8.02 Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus)
8.03 Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
8.04 Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
8.05 Bats (multiple species)
8.06 House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
8.07 Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
8.08 Common Swift (Apus apus)
8.09 Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
8.10 Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
8.11 Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
How did the Animal Client live on the land of London before human habitation?
What can we do or design for the city of London today to welcome them back?

More Information…
email london(at)animalestates(dot)org or visit www.animalestates.org

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By Fritz Haeg on October 12, 2011 | Animal Estates
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On October 11th, 2011, INSTALLATION OF THE ANIMAL ESTATES LONDON HQ…

preview of Animal Estates London HQ, competing reception desks for human and animal clients

…is keeping us (including design collaborator Benjamin from Åbäke) busy morning til night in preparation for the Thursday evening opening event ‘Meet the Animal Clients, Part I: Birds, Bees & Bats‘ organized with the Architecture Foundation.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 11, 2011 | Animal Estates, London
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On September 22nd, 2011, ANNOUNCING ‘ANIMAL ESTATES LONDON HQ: URBAN WILDLIFE CLIENT SERVICES’…

poster # 1 announcing Animal Estates #8: London, England

…coming soon to Arup in London:

ANIMAL ESTATES 8.0: LONDON, ENGLAND
Animal Estates London HQ, Urban Wildlife Client Services
at Arup Phase 2, 8 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 4BJ
October 13th, 2011 – Jan 15th, 2012

OPEN CALL!
We are looking for…
- EXPERTS on each of the 11 animal clients, interested in collaborating and advising
- VOLUNTEERS to assist in assembling the archival presentation about the 11 species
- DONATIONS of books and other relevant printed material for the resource library
- PROPOSALS for the space: presentations, seminars, meetings, events, displays…
- STORIES of your experiences with urban wildlife in the city of London for publication

ANIMAL CLIENTS
Native London wildlife species to welcome back into the city, which would benefit from human constructions, interventions, plantings, hosting, and accommodations:
8.01: Bees (multiple species)
8.02: Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus)
8.03: Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
8.04: Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
8.05: Bats (multiple species)
8.06: House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
8.07: Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
8.08: Common Swift (Apus apus)
8.09: Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
8.10: Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
8.11: Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

DESCRIPTION
Animal Estates London HQ: Urban Wildlife Client Services opens this autumn in Arup’s ground floor gallery space Phase 2 at 8 Fitzroy St, London. This temporary headquarters will provide a place for activists, architects, artists, city-dwellers, designers, engineers, homeowners, and planners to research, discuss, plan, develop, and present initiatives to accommodate native London ‘animal clients’. Projects may range from simple wood nest-boxes that any local resident could construct and strategically install at home, to broad master planning for urban wildlife corridors throughout the city. The space will feature a front reception desk staffed by a full time director with a team of interns, an open area for the evolving display of estate prototypes, work stations about each of the 11 selected native London species, a conference room for meetings and presentations, a resource library, and a place to consult with local urban wildlife experts.

EVENTS
Confirmed events to date include:
- October 13th: ‘Meet the Clients’ – an opening event in collaboration with the Architecture Foundation
- October 25th: ‘Insect City’ – an all day workshop organised by UCL Urban Laboratory and UCL Environment Institute.

CREDITS
Animal Estates is an on-going project by Fritz Haeg
Graphic design and installation in collaboration with Åbäke
Director of Animal Estates London HQ: Joanne Bristol
Exhibition build: Richard Roberts and Nick Westby

MORE INFORMATION
Contact Joanne Bristol, London Animal Estates HQ director, at: london(at)animalestates(dot)org

webpage

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By Fritz Haeg on September 22, 2011 | Animal Estates
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On September 14th, 2011, ISTANBUL CAT ESTATES…

homes for cats on Istanbul sidewalk

…some of them lovingly hand-painted and even featuring the name of the cat over the front door, are what I stumbled upon (almost literally) this afternoon, filling a section of sidewalk on a narrow sloping street just up the hill from my hotel and the Antrepo warehouse sites of the Istanbul Biennial (opening for press previews tomorrow morning) in the Karaköy quarter of the Beyoğlu district.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 14, 2011 | animals, architecture
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On September 8th, 2011, URBAN WILDLIFE CLIENT SERVICES…

Arup headquarters reception, soon to be home to the Animal Estates London HQ

…is the subtitle of the upcoming London Animal Estates HQ project (which I am in town preparing for) coming to the world headquarters of to Arup (the massive global firm of designers, planners, engineers, consultants, and technical specialists with 10,000 employees and 92 offices in 37 countries) as a new temporary public division of their operation to be housed in their ground floor gallery from October 13th through January 15th…and official announcement with more information will be coming soon.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 8, 2011 | Animal Estates
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On August 31st, 2011, GALLIPOLI FISHERMEN AT SUNSET…

returning fisherman set up shop at the docks

…this evening were just pulling back into the docks where crowds of locals were waiting to receive them…and why I wondered, was it their families? was it a ritual? had they been away for weeks? but no, they were just waiting to inspect the day’s catch and pick up something fresh for dinner.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 31, 2011 | food
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On August 30th, 2011, A TOWER FOR PIGEONS…

a 'dovecote tower' for roosting pigeons, vic. Nardo'

…at the masseria I visited late this afternoon near Nardo’ must be the coolest thing I have seen on my Puglia adventures so far – an Animal Estate of the most sophisticated and monumental sort, which from the outside seems to be a fortified castle tower, only to reveal a surprising very contemporary-seeming interior lined entirely in a gridded pattern of cubical cavities for pigeons (a variety known as ‘colombi’ in Italian – before the pesky  sort we are familiar with today whose eggs would make us sick from all of the toxic urban crap they eat) to make themselves at home (up to 1000 couples!) and lay eggs to be harvested by humans by way of cleverly designed stairs wrapping the perimeter at various intervals.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 30, 2011 | animals, architecture
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On August 16th, 2011, A SNAIL ON MY PATH…

escargot

…this morning is slowly making it’s way from one side of the boardwalk to the other and catching my eye – as I am drawn to smaller and slower things here in the woods.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 16, 2011 | animals
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On August 8th, 2011, SIDEWALK ANT COLONY…

St. Paul sidewalk ant colony

…is admired this afternoon, now back in the city, covering the St. Paul concrete with moving brown carpet only revealed to be ants upon closer inspection.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 8, 2011 | animals
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On August 2nd, 2011, LOONS AND EAGLES…

in trees and lakes

…everywhere you look and making lots of noise.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 2, 2011 | animals
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On May 24th, 2011, A SOLITARY BEE ESTATE…

making the trap nests for Roman bees

…or trap nest – similar to the more massive, monolithic version that I made for the Mason Bees in New York City in 2008 – is my Roman rooftop homestead project for the day – having found a big long log out back which I am now drilling a series of holes into, which female bees will hopefully find, fill with nectar, lay eggs inside, cover with mud – in hopes that new bee life will emerge later…

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By Fritz Haeg on May 24, 2011 | animals
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On May 21st, 2011, DUCKS IN THE FONTANA DELL’ACQUA PAOLA…

a duck couple cooling off in the Aqua Paola

…or ‘Fontanone‘ just down the hill from us on top of the Gianicolo – were spotted cooling off this afternoon – frolicking on a hot afternoon in the shady pool of fresh water arriving from the Acqua Paola Roman Acquaduct.

 

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By Fritz Haeg on May 21, 2011 | animals
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On May 5th, 2011, BUNNIES!…

blur of bunnies running around a Minneapolis front yard

…are chasing each other around Minneapolis front yards reminding me of similar scenes from my childhood here – as I watch them publicly frolicking this afternoon, daring the earnest midwestern gardeners whose precious early spring plantings they are surely soon to decimate.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 5, 2011 | animals
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On April 25th, 2011, AN INSECT SKIN…

sloughed off insect skin

…was left on a garden post this morning – yes, that time of year to slough off the old scaly dead weight and just leave it behind.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 25, 2011 | animals
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On April 22nd, 2011, ROMAN CATS…

can you spot all four cats making themselves at home upon this ruin of a Roman wall in Largo Argentina?

…at Largo Argentina cat sanctuary (previously mentioned here) caught my attention while passing by this morning, with the feline residents seeming especially self-aware while posing for the increasing mobs of Roman tourists on the tops of the Roman ruins.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 22, 2011 | animals, Rome
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On March 16th, 2011, MATING TOADS…

big toad and little friend having a moment

…sitting on a low wall by the sidewalk shocked me on my rainy hike back up the hill coming home from a lively interview with culinarily-passionate Luca Guadagnino (director of last year’s ‘I am Love’ with Tilda Swinton) for the upcoming Roma Mangia Roma book with Nero Publications.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 16, 2011 | animals
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On January 14th, 2011, ISTANBUL CATS AND DOGS…

a city dog, tagged by the municipality (note yellow ear tag) lounges in front of Hagia Sofia, and a cat poses inside

…are an integral part of the urban streetscape dating back to Byzantium when street dogs served the sanitation service of street garbage disposal; with the dog population exploding in 1908, 40,000 were shipped to Island of Oxia to fend for themselves where few survived; later in 1937 it was reported in Time Magazine that 20,000 street dogs were cleared from the streets and euthanized, in 2004 a neuter and release program was instituted by the city, the implementation of which was criticized by the Animal Liberation Front, and in 2009 the Sunday’s Zaman reported that Istanbul started to tag the dogs who had been neutered and immunized – which my Istanbul friends seem to think has been successful and well organized – and now each neighborhood in the center has a few dogs in residence (locals know the names of each) who are collectively fed by the various shops, make themselves at home on the streets, and take walks around the city like any other resident – but it’s hard to know how the dogs feel about this arrangement – and as far as felines are concerned, it was a pleasure to meet a cute cross-eyed cat posing in one of the stained-glassed apses of Hagia Sophia, and even more impressive that most tourists (like me) were just as excited about photographing the cat as they were the interior of one of the biggest and most storied cathedrals in the world which we were visiting.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 14, 2011 | animals
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On January 12th, 2011, THE NETHERLANDS ARCHITECTURE INSTITUTE…

unidentified duck species making home in the construction site at the NAI

…in Rotterdam is mostly closed for renovations (at least their bookstore is still open in the form of a trailer out front) with the vast reflecting pool now a muddy construction site, but an attractive duck couple seemed to be making the most of it this afternoon, looking very much at home – or maybe they were confused about what happened to their pond that used to be there? (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on January 12, 2011 | animals, architecture
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On January 5th, 2011, THE WORM REPORT…

a close up view of the Roman red worms getting busy - mostly eating, pooping, and reproducing

…is good, they are devouring my kitchen scraps (about 3 pounds a week), turning it into sweet smelling fertile black-gold worm casting compost, and reproducing like crazy (lots of little babies) – all from the comfort of their plastic bin which feels like the essential heart of the Roman Rooftop Homestead, the highlight of each garden tour when the cardboard cover is removed to introduce them to curious humans.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 5, 2011 | animals, gardens
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On January 3rd, 2011, THE MAREMMAN SHEEP…

the sheep of the Maremma, which also happens to be Italian cowboy country

…were looking at us as we were attempting to visit the Niki de Saint Phalle sculpture park of Il Giardino dei Tarochi which was closed, but the sheep were worth the trip. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on January 3, 2011 | art, Italy
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On October 21st, 2010, FLOCKS OF ROMAN STARLINGS…

Roman starling flock movements from my window at sunset

…fill the skies out my window in fantastic shifting forms every evening as they make their way from the stone pines and plane trees on the top of the Gianicolo Hill down to the center. (see stories on Daily Mail, BBC, Physics World, and The Telegraph)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 21, 2010 | animals
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On October 12th, 2010, THE TORRE ARGENTINA ROMAN CAT SANCTUARY…

two of the resident cats greeting tourists at Torre Argentina

…was a highlight of my walk today, where I greeted a few of the circa 250 cat residents of some of the oldest temples in Rome, now the site of an organized urban cat refuge where they are fed, cared for and protected in the inaccessible recesses of ruins dating from 300-400 BC and the site the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 12, 2010 | animals, Rome
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On October 11th, 2010, ‘SHOW DOGS’…

'Show Dogs' by Kate Lacey, 2010 from Evil Twin Publications

…is the excellent new book I just received in the mail today from Evil Twin Publications (who you may recall published last year’s 150 foot long ‘Sundown Salon Unfolding Archive‘ accordion book) – which consists of engaging portraits by Kate Lacey, who was assigned by Life Magazine to cover Westminster in 2005…’She decided that instead of walking around Madison Square Garden documenting the scene, she would rig up a seamless backdrop to make elegant portraits, much as Richard Avedon once captured glamorous celebrities.‘ – which I am very much enjoying even though I go out of my way to avoid eye contact with cute dogs on the street this year, because it makes me miss my doggies back in L.A. so much. (more info and orders here)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 11, 2010 | books
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On October 6th, 2010, NEW LAND FOR THE NETHERLANDS…

safety outfit and bird blind at Port of Rotterdam

…is being created in the North Sea to extend the Port of Rotterdam, and today I had a tour of the mind-blowing vastness of this operation – not to be completed until 2030 – where I was also able to view a blind for bird-watching in this industrial landscape, and dress in an exciting fluorescent safety costume which I really wanted to wear to the airport later this evening. (check out the website, and the view from above before the new construction)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 6, 2010 | landscape
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On August 30th, 2010, A CUTE HEDGEHOG…

cute hedgehog visitor

…perhaps the one responsible for invading the MacDowell Colony veggie garden, showed up this morning to casually sit back on his haunches under the apple tree out my window, taking his time eating an entire apple down to the core.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 30, 2010 | animals
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On August 16th, 2010, HERON…

Heron on Silver Lake

…is spotted on a local lake.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 16, 2010 | animals
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On August 8th, 2010, EXPIRED MOUSE…

New Hampshire mouse corpse

…in the middle of the path to my cabin.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 8, 2010 | animals
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On August 5th, 2010, WILD TURKEYS…

wild turkeys at MacDowell COlony

…have replaced the deer as my regular morning visitors – and I am enjoying this since they have a bit more style, both in appearance, and the way they move.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 5, 2010 | animals
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On August 4th, 2010, DAILY DEER VISITORS…

a couple of early morning visitors to Schelling Studio at MacDowell Colony

…are framed by the big window over my desk every morning, and today I got a shot of them at 6am as I was biking off to town for morning yoga – and they just kept on nibbling.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 4, 2010 | animals
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On August 1st, 2010, A GUARD LLAMA…

see the guard Llama at work and alert in the lower left corner

…is the coolest creature to have around looking after your flock of sheep – and I had the pleasure of meeting one today in a New Hampshire meadow. (Wikipedia info)

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By Fritz Haeg on August 1, 2010 | animals
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On July 21st, 2010, A SPIDER WEB…

spider web in the sunlight

…behind the cabin catches my eye…

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By Fritz Haeg on July 21, 2010 | animals
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On July 19th, 2010, WASPS…

wasp nest

…have constructed a gorgeous home under the eaves of the cabin.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 19, 2010 | animals
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On July 18th, LULU AND ALMA…

Lulu Haeg and Alma Saunders, cousins from Minneapolis, on the dock at Bay Lake

…city dog relatives from Minneapolis, enjoy a weekend up north on the lake.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 18, 2010 | animals
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On June 17th, 2010, “CATIOS” OR ANIMAL ESTATES FOR FELIS CATTUS…

Animal Estate for Felis cattus

…are fascinating (as reported in today’s New York TImes), and though I have to admit I am not a huge cat fan, and tend more towards the dog end of the spectrum, these elaborate outdoor constructions almost make me want a cat. (web photos)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 17, 2010 | animals
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On June 9th, 2010, THE LOG CABIN IN SAN FRANCISCO’S PRESIDIO…

The Log Cabin in San Francisco's Presidio

…is where I will be doing a talk tomorrow evening at 7pm, mostly about Animal Estates, on the occasion of the year-long installation of the Snag Tower in the national park for the For-Site Foundation show Presidio Habitats. (more info on the talk)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 9, 2010 | animals, lectures
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On February 16th, MY RED-TAILED HAWK NEIGHBOR…

My Red-Tailed Hawk friend landing on his post out my window.

…is keeping the same working hours as me these days, while tapping on my laptop I watch him perched on a telephone pole out the window, making occasional dives down to the rodents nestled in the hillside meadows below me. (more info from the L.A. Zoo)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 16, 2010 | animals
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On February 6th, 2010, ANIMAL SCORES…

…were performed on the occasion of the closing of Intelligent Design: Interspecies Art at The University of California Riverside Sweeney Art Gallery (I couldn’t be there, but found this short video online) by dance students who had been studying the written movement scores and videos of the dancers that had created the movements for the first edition of the Animal Estates project commissioned for the 2008 Whitney Biennial.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 6, 2010 | dance
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