Good morning, bird lovers. Aviary week continues as today we venture to the remaining arch at Natural Bridges State Beach. I dropped in early Wednesday morning and the rock was front loaded with my favorite bird besides Larry. I love these prehistoric looking creatures with New York Giant wingspans. The first shot sets up our location along West Cliff Drive and the last shot is from a stormy day last winter when the pelicans and the cormorants were huddled closer together than Barack Obama’s super delegates.

Here are a couple of stories that caught my wandering eye this week and the first is right up bird alley. When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught — recite his name, address, rank and serial number to a stranger willing to help. Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor’s roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After being read his rights and grilled by detectives all night at the police station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police contacted Interpol and searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.

He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet. “I’m Mr. Yosuke Nakamura,” the bird told the veterinarian. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs, which included an some early Motown, Ted Nugent and a medley of Barry Manilow hits.

“We checked the address, and what do you know, a Nakamura family really lived there. So we told them we’ve found Yosuke,” Uemura said. The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name, address and how to play the accordian for about two years.

But Yosuke apparently wasn’t keen on opening up to police officials. “I tried to be friendly and talked to him, but he completely ignored me,” Uemura said. Later, the bird said he had been denied counsel, sleep and bird seed and was not read his rights. He has been contacted by local animal rights groups and a law suit is pending.

Speaking of animals in the slammer, a donkey is doing time in southern Mexico for assault and battery. The animal was locked up at a local jail that normally holds people for public drunkenness and other disturbances after it bit and kicked two men near a ranch in Chiapas state, police said Monday. The animal claims he kicked the two gents in self-defense.

Officer Sinar Gomez said the donkey will remain behind bars until its owner agrees to pay the men’s medical bills. “Around here, if someone commits a crime they are jailed,” Gomez said, “no matter who they are.” When officer Gomez was asked if the donkey understood the charges against him, he said the beast refused to answer and was acting as stubborn as a mule.

The owner, Mauro Gutierrez, told The Associated Press he would try to reach a friendly arrangement to pay the men’s bills, estimated at $420. The victims said the donkey bit Genaro Vazquez, 63, in the chest on Sunday and then kicked 52-year-old Andres Hernandez as he tried to come to the rescue, fracturing his ankle. “All of a sudden, the animal was on top of us like it was rabid,” Hernandez said. The donkey claims he acted alone and no rabbits were involved. Police said it took a half-dozen men, a female dispatcher and a tortilla salesman to control the enraged burro.

Chiapas police have thrown animals in the slammer before, including a bull that devoured corn crops and destroyed two wooden vending stands in March. The bull later claimed the machines took his money without giving him the Red Bull that he paid for along with a package of Peanut M & M’s. In 2006, a dog was locked up for 12 days after biting someone. His owners were fined $18 and forced to watch old Freddie Prinze “Chico and the Man” episodes.

That will do it for bird week here at Sunrise Santa Cruz. In honor of holiday weekend and the NBA conference finals we’ll take Monday off but we’ll come back strong for Wednesday. And birthday wishes go out on Sunday to my lovely wife Allison who once said to me, “You love basketball more than you love me.” And I replied, “Yes, but I love you more than football or baseball.” As I’ve said before, I guess I’m just a hopeless romantic. So have a great Memorial Day weekend and remember while you’re watching games and barbecuing our troops are still in danger in Iraq and Afghanistan. So don’t sweat the small stuff and count your blessings. And don’t take your good health for granted. Most of us are way ahead in a game where the final score doesn’t matter. Enjoy the pelicans. Later, sports fans.

Good morning and greetings from this cold water paradise. Lately, a day hasn’t gone by when I haven’t seen a great blue heron. I spotted one this morning at the lagoon at Natural Bridges. They are beautiful birds with wing spans that would make both Yao Ming and a pelican jealous. I shot the first two photos this week right down the street from my lovely abode. I spied the next heron in the marshes at Four Mile Beach then it’s back to Natural Bridges. The yellow flower experience is from an open field on Delaware Avenue but it’s the last shot that’s the most unusual. I’ve only seen a great blue heron once in the ocean when this good looking fellow flew in very early one morning for a photo session at the arch at Its Beach. I paid him scale, he signed a release and we were both happy.

So on to the news of the day. Let’s play the Bush administration’s favorite game, “who wants to be average?” According to Time Magazine, the average U.S. household has 2.6 members not including pets, squatters and that friend who never knows when to leave. Our average age is 36.6 and while 17% of us exercise for well over one hour a day, the rest of us don’t even break a sweat. The vast majority of Americans believe in God and more than 90% own a bible. I don’t know what percentage own a gun but I’ll take a shot that it’s huge.

If you are an American at some point today you will say a prayer (perhaps at the free throw line,) use floss, and shower for 10 minutes. All you lovers of the outdoors will spend 95% of the day indoors and 2.5 hours online. You will also consume 20 teaspoons of added sugar and not save any money or souls. On weekends, people spend 1.5 hours reading while those aged 15 to 19 will spend seven minutes, much of which on instructions for iPods usage or text messaging.

On Thanksgiving, 88% will eat turkey but never visit the country. While most Americans prefer white meat the rest of the world (and yours truly) prefers dark. The average family has more televisions than people but we spend the same amount of time watching them as we did 40 years ago, just not laughing as much. Parents are both working harder and spending more time with their children, especially fathers, who spend 153% more time each week on child care then in 1965. Time with the wife (or husband) has dropped as pure spousal time is down 26% since 1975. On the other hand, time spent with mediators, lawyers and divorce proceeding is off the charts.

For you all brewski lovers, North Dakota ranks first in average beer consumption per person (they had to be first in something) while Utah is last. Large families are vanishing: only 10% of American households have five or more people. In 1970, 21% did. On the average, Americans sit in traffic 38 hours a year, wasting an estimated 26 gallons of gas per person. That’s life in the slow lane. I’m just glad that we’re not being held captive by the oil producing countries and that they money we’re paying for this black crude isn’t being funneled to terrorist groups that want to kill Americans. I was almost going to make a comment here about the Bush administration and the spiraling cost of gasoline but why spoil a good paragraph?

71% of American households have an internet connection, up from 50% in 2001. That still leaves about 31 million homes offline not reading this blog. Americans go to an average of 5 to 8 movies a year, spending 10 times more at theaters than all all major professional sports combined, which includes beach volleyball, roller derby and women’s professional wrestling.

The U.S. has 612,020 fast-food cooks but only 392,850 full-time farmers. Americans spend more in restaurants ($390 billion) than they do in grocery stores ($364 billion.) And finally, your fellow Americans spent $155 billion of alcoholic beverages last year, buying enough for every person to down 7 bottles of liquor, 12 bottles of wine, 230 cans of beer and a bag of pretzels. That may sound like a lot, but one-third of American adults don’t drink as the U.S. ranks 40th in the world in alcoholic consumption per person. For whatever reason, Luxembourg (who even knew they were a country?) is number one, followed by the Czech Republic and Ireland. So now we know why Irish eyes are smiling.

What does this all mean? I’m not really sure, just that I may have pumped out an average blog, which I do on the average of three times a week. That’s my batting average. So get ready for game one tonight of the western conference finals between the Spurs and Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. We’ll catch you for good Friday. Enjoy the herons and remember to play your man straight up. Aloha.

Greetings and welcome to Monterey Bay. Every morning when my golden retriever Summer takes me for a walk along West Cliff Drive I am amazed by the exotic marine action and think to myself, “Lucky I live Santa Cruz.” The past few weeks not an Alonzo morning has gone by when I haven’t seen gray whales spouting as they cruise up the coast. Last week they were joined by dolphins followed by dozen’s of Dall’s porpoises that put on aerial show that would have had NBA fans buzzing. This central coast spectacle is the Broadway show that never closes. And you don’t have to charter a whale watching boat to catch the action. Just keep your eyes on the water and your hands upon the wheel.

I like to start off each month with a bang and today will not be an exception. Two weeks ago Sunday I saw the clouds lining up in a nice spread formation so I put on my PF Flyers and headed up the coast to Davenport. I love this spot along the cliffs where the Monterey Cypress trees come to rest. The clouds were oozing color in all directions as a warm breeze blew softly in my face. I knew at that exact moment that this was the place where I was supposed to be. As I gazed out over the vast blue Pacific a feeling of calm and tranquility came over my like a swarm of friendly locusts. And at that moment one thought filled my mind. “Did I bring my extra battery?” That’s a zen moment.

So let’s move on to the important news stories of the day. South African wildlife officials say they will be forced to begin culling the country’s elephants this year as the last available option to control a population expanding out of control. Since a ban on killing the animals was established in 1995, the number of elephants in South Africa has risen from about 8,000 to 18,000. Similar increases have been observed in other parts of southern Africa and in Bayonne, New Jersey. These pachyderms have been asked to relocate, but with rising airline prices and the need for leg room in first class seats it just hasn’t proven feasible although some said they would do it just for the peanuts. We asked Horton for a comment on this sensitive subject and he said he hadn’t heard a who.

The World Wildlife Fund and other environmental groups acknowledge that limited habitat makes the cull necessary. “We all love our elephants. They are the most charasmatic icon of Africa. But we don’t have the luxury to allow one species to dominate and alter the composition of our natural assests,” says Rob Little of the WWF. Sounds like they have been wrestling with this problem for a while. Because elephants have been observed mourning the loss of family members, wildlife authorities say entire families will be culled together to reduce trauma.

Central Europe’s wily red fox is making a comeback from the verge of extinction due to the disappearance of nearly all its natural enemies, which include the Russians, the Chinese, and the producers of “Sanford and Son.” Wildlife experts say the disappearance of predators such as brown bears, lynxes, wolves and fur retailers over the past 100 years have allowed the foxes to become the dominant carnivore across much of Central Europe.

The population has managed to rebound despite sport hunting that saw more than 600,000 of the canines killed by hunters in Germany during the last hunting season alone. In my mind, it were really be a sport if the foxes also have guns. Foxes have adapted to living in urban environments by feeding on garbage, vermin and paparzzi in communities where hunting is banned. But their real interest is not the food humans don’t eat but the delicacies like rats, mice, pigeons and cornish game hens that the garbage attracts.

A Southeast Asian agricultural pest with an unextremely unpleasant odor has invaded Europe for the first time on record. No, I’m not talking about Muslim rebels from the Phillipines. Swiss officials warned fruit and chocolate farmers that the brown mamorated stink bug has been detected on eight different varieties of plants around Zurich. The bug, which measures about a half-inch in length, attacks the fruit and leaves of apple, cherry, plum and lollipop trees. When asked to comment on the situation, Swiss farmers declined to speak, preferring to remain neutral on the subject.

Agricultural and NBA officials believe this insect may have arrived in Switzerland on imported ornamental plants from Asia. The bug gets its name from its ability to emit a vile odor from its abdomen as a defense against being eaten by birds, lizards and small children. The bottom line is I wasn’t sure if this item was worth mentioning so I just went with my instincts.

Okay, sports fans, sorry it’s a little late but that’s our first blog of May 2008. I’d love to hear some comments from you readers out there in the cashew gallery. So enjoy the freshness of a springtime sunset and have a tremendous sports weekend. I’ll be helping out on the weak side. Aloha.

Good morning and welcome to our Monday edition of “What’s Right and Left of the World.” I often find myself sitting at the crossroads, wondering what subject to broach. Ideally, it would be something interesting or unusual that I can add my sophisticated sense of humor to. Some of the blogs recently have dealt with heavy news (pollution, hunger, wild monkeys) rather than my escapades at the beach while tracking a Charlotte bobcat. Today we’re going to take the more serious and Roebuck route because this next story is a shocker.

Here’s the double scoop. More than 120 veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq commit suicide each week while the government stalls in granting returning troops the mental health treatment and benefits to which they are entitled to. This is according to a veterans advocate who testified before a federal judge last week in San Francisco.

The rights of hundreds of thousands of veterans are being violated by the Department of Veteran Affairs, “an agency that is in denial” and by a government health care system and appeals process for patients that is “broken down,” according to Gordon Erspamer, lawyer for two veterans advocacy groups, who made these remarks in an opening statement at the trial of a nationwide lawsuit. So now rather than just extending our soldiers tours of duty and prolonging the families pain, we’re screwing around with their heads when they return home.

Erspamer says veterans are committing suicide at the rate of 18 per day, a number acknowledged by the VA in a December 15 e-mail. The agency’s backlog of disability claims now exceeds 650,000, an increase of 200,000 since the Iraq war started in 2003. I guess the only good news is that there have been no disability claims filed yet from the next war in Iran.

Justice Department lawyer Richard Lepley countered that the VA runs a “world class health care system.” He said the changes the plaintiffs seek in their lawsuit, better and faster mental health care and more rights for appealing denials of benefits are beyond the judge’s authority. I don’t know that much about this subject, but let’s just say my entire body is wrapped up in red tape as I write this.

The judge in this case, U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti, earlier ruled that if the advocates can prove their claim, they would show that “thousands of veterans are suffering grievous injuries as the result of their inability to procure desperately needed and obviously deserved health care.” He also ruled that veterans are legally entitled to five years of government-provided health care after leaving the service, despite federal officials’ argument that they are required to provide only as much care as the VA’s budget allows in a given year. So what the government is saying is they don’t mind spending over $3,000 a second in Iraq, they just don’t want to go over budget when these vets return home. Fair enough, Pentagon boys.

The trial follows publication of a Rand study last week that estimated that 18.5 percent of U.S. troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq suffer from major depression or post-traumatic stress. Now, I don’t want to rag on the Bush administration for wasting of trillions of dollars on a blatant lie a war or for taking our eye off the ball in Afghanistan and allowing the Taliban to regroup. That’s just not my style. I was just stunned when I read about the number of veteran’s suicides per day and felt the pain that accompanies these tragedies.

So that’s the news of the day. Today’s photos are from two sunrises back in February. I realize it’s an odd mix, beautiful sunrises over the Pacific along with painful revelations about what our government is doing to the returning troops but you never know what you’ll get here at Sunrise Santa Cruz. Someone once told me variety was the spice of life. I always thought it was onion or garlic powder. Shot a nice sunset tonight up the coast which we’ll see later in the week. Anyway, enjoy the morning colors, support the troops and we’ll catch you for wildlife Wednesday. Aloha.