Pair accused of animal cruelty in cutting down tree that housed baby birds

Residents in a Newport Beach community had pleaded with two men not to cut down a ficus tree, arguing that it would destroy several nests with young snowy egrets and herons, authorities said.

But Stephen John Esser and David Roger Stanley are accused of cutting the tree down anyway, killing some of the migratory and protected birds. On Thursday, Orange County prosecutors filed charges against the men.

Esser, 47, and Stanley, 40, each face four misdemeanor counts, alleging animal cruelty, unlawful taking of migratory birds, harassing a bird and unlawful destruction of bird nests, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

“To have these charges finally filed is bittersweet for us,” said resident Shelley Ervin. “We are so grateful that it’s happening, but at the same time it doesn’t make up for the loss of life.”

The ficus was removed May 28 as part of a demolition project in the 1500 block of East Balboa Boulevard. The tree was home to nestlings, or baby birds that can’t yet fly, and fledglings -- young birds that are still learning to fly -- prosecutors said.

The felling of the ficus left five of the 12 nestlings in the tree dead, prosecutors said.

The seven surviving baby birds were found among rubble and rehabilitated over six weeks at a wildlife center in Huntington Beach, prosecutors said. The birds were later returned to the wild.

The incident was reported to the Newport Beach police’s animal control unit, which investigated the case.

Esser and Stanley are scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 28. If convicted, they face up to one year and six months in jail.

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Times Community News staff writer Hannah Fry contributed to this report.