Pelican

I love living in a city where pelicans get so much press. This paper did a wonderful job last week covering some recent news (“A long-awaited flight,” Feb. 18), and I had just been to the Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center the week before that after learning about the dozens of sick birds. Perhaps it’s because I’m partial to pelicans, but still, any opportunity to watch the volunteers at the center work their magic is always a rewarding experience. The morning I went to hang around and observe, there were but three people there, yet they seemed to be doing the work of at least twice as many, methodically weighing, treating, feeding and tending to literally dozens of brown pelicans in their Pacific Coast Highway facility.

A group of wildlife protection agencies has quadrupled the reward for information on whoever snapped the wings of 11 endangered brown pelicans on Bolsa Chica State Beach. The reward has risen from an initial $5,000 to $20,000 for anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible. In addition to the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center, which is caring for the one surviving bird, other agencies involved are the Found Animals Foundation, Bolsa Chica Land Trust and the International Bird Rescue and Research Center.

A Huntington Beach bird rescue center will announce a major raise from its $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of a suspect after 11 brown pelicans with broken wings were discovered at Bolsa Chica State Beach, officials said. “I don’t have all the details, but it’s at least going to double,” said Debbie McGuire, wildlife director for the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach. “We had some other people come forward with more money.

The L-shaped bundle was giving Kelly Beavers trouble as she maneuvered it carefully toward a plastic crate in the lab at the Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center. A pair of webbed feet began kicking under the white sheet that she cradled in her arms. A long beak, which Beavers gripped tightly with one hand, thrashed about as well. Looking around the crates, which had been manufactured for dogs but were housing pelicans Tuesday afternoon, she opted for one that was small enough to hold a single, hot-tempered bird.

A mystery illness that has grounded dozens of birds, killing some of them, has possibly spread to Newport Beach’s shores, experts said Friday. Starting in the afternoon, Huntington Beach’s Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center Director Debbie McGuire said her office began receiving calls from Newport Beach Animal Control that “scores” of birds had been found dead or dying along the coast. Huntington Beach has been dealing with the problem, which had been affecting mostly pelicans, since earlier in the week.

Experiencing a culinary delicacy doesn't get much better than Crab Tuesdays at AnQi Gourmet Bistro & Noodle Bar at South Coast Plaza. It's a rare weekly foodie event hosted by celebrity Chef Helene An, the matriarch and executive chef of all An Family restaurants. She travels from Beverly Hills to cook her famous garlic roasted crab that she perfected at Crustacean in Beverly Hills and San Francisco decades ago, served with her legendary garlic noodles. (Even AnQi's Chef Ryan Carson doesn't know her garlic roasted crab and garlic noodle recipe.)

The Irvine Co. announced Thursday the firm is poised to take over management of the Four Seasons Hotel Newport Beach. The luxury property is expected have a new name soon. Specifics of the agreement between Toronto-based Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and the Irvine Co. were not disclosed. The Irvine Co., headquartered near the high-rise Four Seasons in Newport Center, is expected to take control Oct. 31. In an e-mail message, Kathleen Taylor, Four Seasons' president of worldwide business operations, said it is unusual for Four Seasons to leave a hotel before a contract expires.

It was among the first things that ran through our minds when we heard the Irvine Co. was taking over the Four Seasons Hotel Newport Beach: What's the new name going to be? So far, that's apparently still up in the air. But you figure it has to be something grand to pick up on the Four Seasons mystique. OK, no, we're not going to try to guess or make snide predictions (like Bren's Den, or something). We also know not to doubt the Irvine Co.'s ability to move into new areas and succeed.