NEWS
By Emily Foxhall | February 28, 2014
Two Newport Beach newcomers are being guaranteed the high quality of life for which the city is known. They already had a great view, and now city officials are making sure the temperature is just right - nothing's too good for these coastal birds. City staff plans to disconnect the lightbulbs on a sports field light at Bonita Creek Park where an osprey nest was built earlier this month . This is being done "out of an abundance of caution," Laura Detweiler, recreation and senior services director for the city, wrote in an email.
NEWS
By Bradley Zint | December 5, 2013
The Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee on Wednesday approved three suggestions for additions to the park, based on ideas the group generated earlier this year. A majority of the nine-member committee favored adding a community garden, information kiosks with pamphlets, and a nature center with bird-watching platforms within the 208-acre park's northwest quadrant. The three suggestions will be brought to city staff, who will research the feasibility of each before the committee's next meeting, scheduled for February.
NEWS
By Jeremiah Dobruck | July 11, 2013
Half a dozen visually impaired teenagers and a group of guides listened in silence in the middle of a tight trail at Crystal Cove State Park. Some cupped their ears or turned their heads to hear the different bird calls they were trying to count. "I got 10," said Nick Avalos, 16. He and his classmates from the Braille Institute in Los Angeles were at Moro Canyon in Laguna Beach on Thursday. There they participated in a pilot project of sorts with Crystal Cove Alliance, a nonprofit partner of the state park.
NEWS
By Bradley Zint | June 20, 2013
Rock stars usually headline the Pacific Amphitheatre, but on Wednesday evening fairgrounds administrators took center stage. During an open house, officials showed off the venue's dramatic changes, part of a $13.8-million renovation effort aimed at creating a more intimate setting at the Orange County Fair & Event Center. More than 150 visitors got a chance to walk onstage and backstage and alongside what's left of the venue's outer dirt berm. "It's a good opportunity to let our neighbors know what's going on," Fair Board Chairman Douglas La Belle said.
NEWS
By Michael Miller | April 4, 2013
If Chip Michael's orchestra ever plays a massive concert hall, the members may need an hour before curtain time to get acquainted with each other. For that matter, they may need to say hello to their conductor, too. Michael, the web coordinator for the Pacific Symphony, launched a project last March that brings musicians together through social media. The campaign, known as TwtrSymphony, initially sought a makeshift orchestra to play a composition of Michael's — and it succeeded, as more than 300 musicians answered the call.
NEWS
October 16, 2012
Cormorants were released back into the wild from the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach Monday afternoon. The black sea birds have been rescued in the past from fishing lines, as in a late September incident during which surfers wrestled two cormorants ashore near Newport Pier and called animal control. One of the birds had been snagged by a hook and the other had been weighed down by a fishing sinker. Newport Beach Animal Control officers drove the birds to the center.
NEWS
September 27, 2012
Surfers rescued two sea birds tangled in fishing lines off Newport Pier on Thursday morning. A witness said that two surfers wrestled the cormorants ashore after one was snagged by a hook, and the other weighed down by a fishing sinker. Lori McDonald was in the pier parking lot when she saw one of the black birds on the sand, which is unusual. A group of people encircled it so it wouldn't try to escape with a lead weight attached to its claw. One local surfer was hugging the other bird, she said, trying to keep it calm after a hook nearly caught its eye. "It was a tussle," McDonald said, for the surfers bring the two birds from the surf spot Blackies onto the sand.
NEWS
September 20, 2012
Many space enthusiasts are anxious to watch the final flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour as it flies over many Southern Californian landmarks Friday, including Huntington Beach and Disneyland. Many of you will likely snap a picture or two of this historic occasion and we at the Daily Pilot would love to see your shots of Endeavour on its final voyage. Send us your picture, along with a caption, your name, address and phone number to dailypilot@latimes.com . You can also tweet them to us via our Twitter, @TheDailyPilot.
NEWS
From the Los Angeles Times | August 16, 2012
Months ago, a pelican was spotted in Irvine tangled in fishing line, hooks and a lure. Rescuers said the bird was wrapped like a pretzel as they worked for days to free and treat her. This week, after surgeries to rebuild her beak and mend fractures, Nigel the pelican - or Nigelina, as some began calling the bird after he was discovered to be a female - was released into the wild. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version incorrectly identified Nigel, or Nigelina to some, as a male pelican.
NEWS
By Lauren Williams | July 17, 2012
While beachgoers lounging on the shore can typically see pelicans plunge into the water for fish, it was Newport Beach's Animal Control officers who did the hunting for about 40 hungry birds last weekend. Animal Control brought 200 pounds of fish to the Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center, which was close to running out of food after being inundated with young, injured and starving pelicans this season, said Wildlife Director Debbie McGuire. Storms in Mexico and warmer water can drive fish favored by the birds into deeper, cooler waters, where only more skilled hunters can scoop them up, she said.