“So this is where they filmed ‘The Birds,’ huh?”

Sorry. Morro Bay would have been the ideal location for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 horror classic The Birds, but it was filmed in Bodega Bay, about 300 miles up the coast. I don’t know why people mistake Morro Bay for Bodega Bay, probably because not too many small California fishing villages have served as the setting for movies about flocks of murderous birds. The two towns have similar harbors and rocky beaches, but the one the dead giveway is Morro Rock. Bodega Bay has nothing as impressive a Morro Rock – few towns do. It’s my opinion that Hollywood missed out on this one. Just look at all the “extras” we could have provided. I’m not talking about the human kind, though we’ve no shortage of “cinematic” characters walking around, I’m talking about those of the feathered variety. Part of Morro Bay is considered an official bird sanctuary, so we’ve got 211 species of birds here, some of which are probably just itching for their moment on the silver screen. Imagine the terror Hitchock could have captured with our dive-bombing Brown Pelicans and dagger-beaked Great Blue Herons, or a chase scenes featuring our protected Peregrine Falcons (the fastest animal on earth) swooping into scene from their home atop Morro Rock. With the right director (and ornithologist) Morro Bay might be just the place for a remake of The Birds. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Gosling have already been to Morro Bay for the shooting of their 2002 movie Murder By Numbers so we could ask them back.  Scorsese or John Carpenter or Quentin Tarantino could be persuaded into taking an interest. And Lindsay Lohan, who is probably looking for work, knows Morro Bay from the filming of her 2007 movie I Know Who Killed Me. Joking aside, Morro Bay really would like to see more films shot here. Local actress and former mayor, Janice Peters has been pushing to promote Morro Bay as an attractive film locale. As a filmmaker, how could you resist it? For now though all we can do is wait for Hollywood to discover in us what the makers of a popular pharmaceutical did when they used Morro Rock as one of the most picturesque backdrops ever for a Viagra commercial.