Good morning and greetings, last day of winter fans. On my morning jaunts along West Cliff Drive, one of the constants is the fly-by action along the coast. I’ve been into the Byrds since the early years of David Crosby and their 60’s psychedelic classic, ‘Eight Miles High.’ In a classic quote by frontman Roger McGuinn to bandmate Gene Clark who refused get on a plane, “If you can’t fly, you can’t be a Byrd.”

So when I saw this story last week written by Donna Jones in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, I knew I had to fly with it. Or as the Space Cowboy himself, Steve Miller, said, “I want to fly like an eagle, to the sea, fly like an eagle, let my spirit carry me.” Of course, this health nut was also “a smoker, a joker and a midnight toker” who spoke of the “pompetous of love,” which has never truly been defined.

So for perhaps the first time since tourists came over the hill from San Jose on horseback, a pair of bald eagles are making plans to call Santa Cruz their home.
Despite the high cost of housing in the county, they are building a large nest near the top of a eucalyptus tree in a grove near Pinto Lake County Park.

Eagles almost disappeared from California due to the toxic effects of DDT, the pesticide that caused egg shell thinning that lead to unsuccessful hatching. According to my DDS, by the time DDT was banned in 1972, which had gotten into their DNA, fewer than 30 nesting pairs remained in the state, which registered as a DNP on my stat sheet.

In 1967, the bald eagle was designated as an endangered species by federal authorities and the Hair Club for Men. California added it to its endangered list in 1971. The state Department of Fish and Game say that bald eagles are sober and recovering, and nesting pairs have been found in 41 of California’s 58 counties. Happy couples have nested in Santa Clara, San Benito and Monterey counties, but none have been known to take up residence in our cold water paradise by the sea.

Despite their growing numbers, the eagles remain on the state’s endangered list, and are federally protected. Word is spreading like wildfire that these eagles have signed a one year lease. When I think about these national treasures, I get a peaceful, easy feeling, and one of these nights, one of these crazy old nights, I may just be out there at Pinto Lake, although I can’t tell you why. That’s just life in the fast lane.

So here are some fun facts about our follicle-deprived friends from the good people at www.baldeagleinfo.com and nationalgeographic.com. Bald eagles live 30-35 years and sit at the top of the food chain, which from my perspective, is the best place to be. They eat mainly lightly sauteed fish, but also ducks, geese, snakes, Hollywood agents, small mammals, rodents, weasels, actors along with having a sweet tooth for road kill consisting of dead and decaying flesh.

LensCrafters reports that eagle’s eyesight is five times sharper than humans. Soaring at 10,000 feet, they can spot a fish or a bargain almost a mile away. They then swoop down at 100 miles an hour, snatch their lunch with their razor sharp talons while holding their prey and tearing the flesh with their beaks, which is the same method I use with Snow Crab Legs. It’s one of the most awesome sights in nature and at all-you-can-eat Chinese sea food buffets.

Bald eagles reach their sexual maturity at around four or five years of age. Unlike 50% of American couples, once paired, eagles remain together until one dies or runs off with the nanny, secretary or a mother from their offspring’s soccer team.

The baldest of eagles became the national symbol in 1782, around the birth of John McCain’s parents. Ben Franklin, who invented bifocals, the odometer and the thighmaster, was against the eagle’s nomination because of their habit of stealing the kills of other animals. About half of the world’s 70,000 bald eagles live in Alaska, because of the salmon and no state income tax. And that leads us into today’s photo extravaganza.

For our eagle coverage, we are bringing back one of our heavy hitters, photographer Judy Bingman, who traveled up to Haines, Alaska to capture the magnificence of our national symbol. Judy explained that each year, 3,000 to 5,000 eagles gather in the trees above the ice cold and crystal clear Chilkoot River to pick off the salmon as they head upstream to spawn and die, which has always been a dream of mine.

Eagles are a member of the Accipitridae family, which also includes vultures, hawks and turtle doves. So to make sure Judy didn’t get all the photographic attention today, I’ve included a red shouldered hawk I photographed at Antonelli’s Pond on the west side of Santa Cruz.

We then head to Big Sky country, to check out a couple of Artic wolves and a dancing bobcat. These animals had been hand raised in Kalispel, Montana and Judy went there to update them on the effects of global warming.

My friend Judy is a wild woman, and unlike myself, who’s content to shoot a couple of sunrises and watch basketball until my eyes bleed, she’s loves the photographic adventure. This week she is heading north of Fairbanks, Alaska to photograph the wonder of the aurora borealis. Then in June she’s journeying to Iceland to do some landscape shooting and play with the volcano.

And then to top it off, in August, she’s swimming to St. Paul Island, which is off the coast of Alaska in the middle of the Bering Sea to shoot puffins and other sea birds. I really wanted to join Judy on this trip but I decided to instead go to Safeway to photograph muffins and other selected pastries.

To check out Judy”s artistry, go to www.judybingmanphotography.blogspot.com. Or if you’re downtown on the mall in Santa Cruz, head over to Pacific Thai on Pacific Avenue to check out her work. All this from a woman who hummingbirds refer to as the queen of pad see ew.

On to the late night. “Despite only winning the Super Tuesday primary in Georgia, Newt Gingrich vowed to continue his campaign, saying ‘I’m the tortoise. I take it one step at a time. Also, if you roll me onto my back I can never get up.’” –Seth Meyers “This week a Chicken McNugget that resembles President George Washington was auctioned on eBay for over $8,000. Meanwhile, a Chicken McNugget that looks like Mitt Romney was eaten by Newt Gingrich.” –Conan O’Brien

“Stoners just got a powerful new ally in the fight to legalize marijuana — conservative broadcaster Pat Robertson. “Robertson said he never smoked pot and never will, and that just because something is ‘legal’ doesn’t mean we should do it. That’s the argument I always use against pineapple on your pizza.” –Craig Ferguson

“They say gasoline could be $6 a gallon. But the good news is the White House says President Obama is aware of the problem, and will continue to talk about it between fundraisers. President Obama today released his NCAA bracket. He is a huge basketball fan. But privately, White House aides are worried that if he spends so much time on this, it could affect his golf game.” –Jay Leno

?

“Not a good week for Rush Limbaugh either. His approval rating has dropped 9 percent in the last month to an all-time low of 41 percent. In fact, if this keeps up, the White House said they may have to fish out bin Laden and shoot him all over again.” –Jay Leno “Rush Limbaugh was at one of the games at Dayton, Ohio, tonight. He brought British Prime Minister David Cameron with him. It’s part of a cultural exchange program. They go to a basketball game here, and then in July the prime minister has invited Obama to England to take part in a soccer riot.” –Jimmy Kimmel

So that’s our last blast for the winter season, as according to my Justin Bieber calender, it says that the vernal equinox hits on Tuesday. I hope you caught some of college basketball’s March Madness last week, as it was Lehigh fantastic. We’ll catch you slashing to the hoop and crashing your moped. Aloha, mahalo and later, Monta Ellis fans.

Good morning and greetings, heat wave fans. While the east coast was suffering under scorching, brutal, record breaking heat and humidity last week, the central coast was cooler than the other side of my pillow. If you like cold and foggy weather in the July, then Santa Cruz was the place to be. What tourist doesn’t love wearing mittens and a down jacket at the beach? Or to paraphrase my old pal Mark Twain, “the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer riding the Big Dipper.”

The temperatures have been sweltering inland, but the chilly, gray sky mornings are normal weather for the coast. According to meteorlogist Diana Henderson of the National Weather Service in Monterey, “it’s not unusual. This happens every year at this time. That’s why they film ‘Baywatch’ in Hawaii.” It’s understandable, because we wouldn’t want to see Pamela Anderson wrapped in a blanket as she tries to save a school of baby dolphins from getting caught in a riptide. That would defeat the porpoise.

The central coast’s frigid summer conditions comes mostly from the chilly Pacific Ocean, which acts as an air conditioner and minty air freshener, according to Henderson. “Without it, we’d be Nevada.” That’s right, blackjack, showgirls and the illusions of Siegfried & Roy, right here, where the redwoods meet the sea and anarchy.

My thanks to Shanna McCord of the Santa Cruz Sentinel for the weather service updates. When I woke up Tuesday morning, the ground was soaked like my tank top after a ten mile run up the coast. It looked like rain, but it was actually the drizzle from the heavy fog. I hadn’t seen that much condensation on the ground since Jennifer Beals took the stage in ‘Flashdance.’

That brings us to our top news story of the week. As reported by Andrew Zajac in the Los Angeles Times, the Agriculture Department’s Natural Resources Conservation Service said it would begin paying some gulf region farmers, ranchers and football coaches to flood their fields so that migratory birds can find alternative rest and nesting grounds to oil-fouled habitats.

The Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative will pay to use up to 150,000 acres of land “to provide feeding, resting and reading areas for migratory birds.” The program applies mainly to former wetlands, low-lying land and skateboard parks in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Texas and France. Conservation officials are hoping to attract birds who don’t have internet access to safe areas before they land on shores and wetlands contaminated by the massive oil spill.

Landowners would be expected to flood fields and promote the growth of vegetation and snacks favored by migratory birds, or to enhance existing wetlands on their properties, as rice fields, fish farms and Long John Silver restaurants are particularly suited to the initiative.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has fouled off numerous pitches along with marshes and coastal areas relied on by birds and other wildlife. The gulf region sits beneath one of the world’s major migratory flyways, with about 1 billion birds from more than 300 species passing through annually, says Greg Butcher, a vegetarian and director of bird conservation for the National Audubon Society. “None of this is guaranteed to work,” Butcher says. “We’re expecting that this will work at least a little bit. We’re hoping that it’ll help a lot. What I’m really trying to say is these birds are screwed”

On that positive note, in a story reported by Michael Kunzleman for the Associated Press, less than three years before New Orlean Saints won the Super Bowl and the Gulf oil spill erupted, federal regulators and a couple of fortune tellers concluded several offshore drilling projects posed a low risk to endangered wildlife – a determination that contrasts sharply with recent scenes of birds and vacationers struggling to survive the slick.

A September 2007 memo from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said large oil spills from the proposed Gulf drilling projects under review were “low-probability events” that weren’t likely to affect brown pelicans, sea turtles, other animals or the economic futures of fisherman, shrimpers and oyster lovers with Gulf Coast habitats.

The memo concluded that the chance of oil from an offshore spill of at least 1,000 barrels reaching endangered species or their habitats was no greater than 26 percent. Now, I’m no math whiz, but I’d calculate their estimates were off by, approximately, let’s say, a million percent.

Less than three months before the Fish and Wildlife Service issued its memo, the National Marine Fisheries Service concluded that the same Gulf leases, including BP’s for Deepwater Horizon, were “not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of threatened or endangered species.” Well, I’m sure that comes as a relief to all the migrating birds and their families. Because as we all know, a bird in the hand is worth two gallons in the Bush administration.

So in honor of Larry Bird and friends, I thought we would take a look at some winged creatures who reside here on the central coast. We start with a great blue heron, who I photographed right outside the arch early one morning at Its Beach. I shot the snowy egret in the landing mode right after it had flown through the same arch on an extreme low tide afternoon. This was the same day I photographed a rainbow through the arch and decided that I wanted to be Mikhail Baryshnikov when I grow up.

Then it’s onto four snowy egrets in a marshland up in Richardson Bay in Mill Valley, followed by some pink flamingos vacationing in Palm Desert and a snowy egret reflecting in the pond at Natural Bridges. Flamingos don’t actually live here on the central coast but sometimes journey to Monterey Bay for a spa weekend and to have their legs shaved. Much like myself, they enjoy standing on one leg with the other tucked beneath their body. It’s both relaxing and a way to save on the wear and tear of our shoes.

The final image is a red shouldered hawk, who I photographed at Antonelli’s Pond, which is less than a mile by the way the crow flies from my compound here on the westside. It was early in the afternoon when I spotted this beauty. With my zoom, I was able to get close enough to get a shot of those incredible talons wrapped around the branch. And the best part is, this is the only hawk, besides Dominique Wilkins, that I’ve seen in this spot over the past eleven years. There’s something about capturing the flag or the moment.

Here’s a taste of the late night. “The East Coast is suffering from a terrible heat wave. Wall Street bankers are jumping out of windows just for the cool breeze on the way down. You people are so lucky you live in California. This heat wave back east is just unbelievable. … It was so hot in Washington, Nancy Pelosi skipped the Botox, had her face injected with frozen yogurt. Back in 1776, Americans were fighting to escape British rule, these days we’re fighting to escape British oil. They say traces of BP’s oil has started turning up in disturbing places, like congressmen’s pockets.” –Jay Leno

So that’s our show, petroleum lovers. Here’s a few quick petro facts before I cruise off into the fog bank. Americans drivers consume 19-20 million barrels of oil every 24 hours. That’s 10,000 gallons a second. If we all drove 30 miles less per week, oil consumption would drop 20%. Then again, if my aunt had,er, spheres, she’d be my uncle. Just a few things to think about the next time you fill up the old Hummer.

So in honor of the uniting of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, I’m taking my Sonny Crockett jacket out of mothballs. Sorry Knick fans, but your suffering will continue.

So enjoy the long days of summer and let’s hope someday that we leave Afghanistan. And if you have moment, say a little prayer for the displaced and homeless. We’ll catch you in the American Airlines Arena. Aloha, mahalo and later, David Lee fans.