The bald eagles nesting near the construction zone on Highway 44 have hatched a second egg, and I saw one of the adults feeding the babies on Friday morning.
I’m probably the last computer-owner in Redding to tune into the live video Eagle Cam. I didn’t have Quick Time and the video feed hates America Online (a sentiment with which I increasingly agree), and I’ve been busy. But after word came of the second (of three) eggs hatching, I decided to tune in.
First, I used Internet Explorer rather than accursed AOL. Then I downloaded Quick Time (it’s offered for free at the Eagle Cam site; takes only a few minutes). Then I called up the Eagle Cam. How exciting! A video camera looking right into a bald eagle nest! This’ll be better than National Geographic!
I loaded it up and got a pink-and-green abstract pattern that looked suspiciously like my TV screen when it rains on my satellite dish.
Hmm. I called over to Turtle Bay Exploration Park, which confirmed that the CalTrans camera was having off-and-on “technical issues” and it probably wasn’t my own operator error.
So I tried it again, and there were the eagles! The adult eagle used its beak to pull bits off some prey (maybe a fish, the image was still a little screwy), then swiveled around and put it in a baby’s mouth. At that moment, witnessing this wonder of nature, I knew I would get no more work done for the rest of the day.
You, too, can spend your daylight hours watching the eagles in their nest. To go to the Eagle Cam, click here. Expect some technical difficulties. But don’t despair. It’s worth the wait.
- Our own Phil Fountain brings news that famous local cartoonist Benita Epstein is taking on the world of newspaper syndication. Epstein, known for her cartoons in magazines from The New Yorker to Reader’s Digest, has been asked to join the strip “Six Chix” as the Friday contributor, replacing Kathryn Lemieux. “Six Chix” is a popular King Features strip with a rotating cast of six female cartoonists, each reponsible for one strip a week. Yay, Benita!
- Mercy Medical Center in Redding is offering $5,000 in scholarships to local high school seniors who will enter college next fall and major in a field related to health care. Four $1,000 and two $500 scholarships will be handed out by the hospital. Deadline for application is March 31, so students better get cracking. For more info, call Alexis Ross at 225-6114 or send e-mail to alexis.ross@chw.edu.
- DVD I Watched on the Treadmill: “Citizen X,” an HBO film about the hunt for a Russian serial killer. This excellent film stars Stephen Rea as an investigator who refuses to give up, though he’s blocked at every turn by Soviet bureaucrats who insist that serial killers exist only in the decadent West. The movie, which also stars Donald Sutherland and Max Van Sydow, is based on real events.
Tips appreciated: Send news tidbits to steveb.anewscafe@gmail.com. He’ll look at them as soon as he’s done staring at the pink-and-green eagles.
