Brown Recommended for N. Main Group
At its May 23, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor public art commission (AAPAC) unanimously recommended that Connie Rizzolo Brown be nominated for a position on a task force to study the corridor along North Main Street and the Huron River. That recommendation will be forwarded to mayor John Hieftje.
The task force was established by the city council at its May 7, 2012 meeting, with membership to include the following: one member of the park advisory commission, one member of the planning commission, one resident representing the Water Hill neighborhood, one resident representing the North Central neighborhood, one resident from the Old Fourth Ward, one resident representing the Broadway/Pontiac neighborhood, two business and property owners from the affected area, and one member of the Huron River Watershed Council.
At its May 21 meeting, the two sponsors of the resolution that created the task force – Ward 1 councilmembers Sabra Briere and Sandi Smith – proposed adding three additional representatives: a member of the city council, someone from the boating/fishing community of river users, a representative from the Huron River Citizens Association. Tony Derezinski (Ward 2), who also serves on AAPAC, then proposed an amendment to add an AAPAC member to the task force. The AAPAC addition was passed by council on a 6-5 vote. [See Chronicle coverage: "Positions Added to North Main Task Force"] Appointments are expected to be made at the council’s June 4 meeting.
At AAPAC’s May 23 meeting, Derezinski told commissioners that “basically, we need someone at the table.”
The task force is charged with delivering a report to the city council more than a year from now – by July 31, 2013 – that describes “a vision to create/complete/enhance pedestrian and bike connection from downtown to Bandemer and Huron River Drive, increase public access to the river-side amenities of existing parks in the North Main-Huron River corridor, ease traffic congestion at Main and Depot at certain times of a day and recommend use of MichCon property at Broadway; …”
Earlier than that – by the end of 2012 – the task force is to make recommendations on the use of the city-owned 721 N. Main parcel.
Brown has served on AAPAC since early 2009, and has chaired the commission’s projects committee. She is a principal of Rizzolo Brown Studio, an Ann Arbor architecture firm.
This brief was filed from the basement conference room of city hall at 301 E. Huron, where AAPAC held its meeting. A more detailed report will follow.
A Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) perhaps? Grey wings and back with a white and brown stripped chest?
Re: [1] Ben, here’s a poor resolution photo of a bird I figured might be a Cooper’s Hawk, which I noticed in my neighborhood last week. Is there enough detail there for you to identify it? [photo]
Got those in my area. The squirrels get nervous. (Chest is striped, not stripped.)
I don’t know about cooper’s hawks, but we have a healthy population of red-tailed hawks in the area. I have noticed them over the past few years, observing juveniles as well as adults. And have you noticed the pigeon population in the downtown ann arbor area has gone to nil? Used to be a lot of pigeons that would compete with sparrows for the bread crumbs i would feed them. Now I don’t really see any pigeons around anymore. At least not downtown or on the west side.
If it seemed to be a large hawk, it would be a red-tail. Coopers hawks are small to medium sized hawks…
Red-tailed Hawk [link]
Cooper’s Hawk [link]
to tell the truth, I’ve truly enjoyed watching the hawk population grow in the ann arbor area. I’ve seen them and heard them in the neighborhoods on the west side, observed them around the parking structures in the downtown area and watched them in the trees and sky around the arb. Beautiful and magnificent creatures. There is also supposed to be a pair fo peregrine falcons in/around burton tower on campus, but I haven’t seen them yet.
A while back (in much warmer weather), I saw one of the peregrines perched on a low branch of the big tree right by the back door of the UM Fleming Administration building’s–eating lunch, and a very messy meal it was, too, with pigeon feathers flying all over and bits and pieces of bird dropping to the ground.
It was about pigeon-sized. After it landed, I had to see its beak to be sure it was a hawk (although it certainly flew like a hawk and not a pigeon). Coopers are about the right size, I guess. I tried for a photo with my phone, but the quality wasn’t good enough to really distinguish anything.
After a couple unpleasant pigeon incidents in Nickels Arcade, I am firmly on Team Hawk.
Dave,
It’s hard to tell with the high contrast, but based on the tail, looks too long for it to be a Red-tailed. I want to believe it’s a Cooper’s Hawk, but it’s hard to say. I’ve seen them around town near the Y and on campus. Here is an equally inconclusive photograph: link
There has been a pair of Peregrine Falcons roosting on Burton Tower and around the University Medical Center for several years. I think they get the most credit for chasing away the pigeons — peregrines are very fast, strong flyers, and hunt other birds on the wing in the open. Some of the staff at the UM Museum of Zoology have been collecting the scraps that accumulate around the base of the tower, and have found some interesting patterns.
[link]
These birds haven’t successfully nested yet, and no one knows for sure what the problem is. I’ve heard that the DNR may be planning to put up a nesting platform on a building at the Medical Center to help.
Several pairs of Cooper’s Hawks do nest in the city (something that has only occurred in the last thirty years or so). I think there is nest in Eberwhite Woods, among other places. These hawks also prey mainly on birds, but they are ambushers that hunt from cover. They do eat pigeons (and starlings, mourning doves, and other medium-sized birds), but probably don’t go after flocks of pigeons in the open. These hawks are built for more maneuverability and less speed.
Red-tailed Hawks are found around the city too, there has been a nest in the Arb for years. They are generalists that mainly attack prey on the ground. In our area they probably take mostly rabbit and rodents (mice, voles, young woodchucks, maybe tree squirrels).