Apr-Jun 2004
Altamont Pass Wind Debate
April 01, 2004 by Leah Messinger
In the January-March 2004 issue of Bay Nature, Ear to the Ground covered the deaths of hundreds of raptors each …
Issue Content
Apperson Ridge Quarry
April 01, 2004 by Leah Messinger
In 1984, Alameda County approved Oliver de Silva, Inc.’s plans to build a hard rock quarry at Apperson Ridge, east …
Bolinas Lagoon
April 01, 2004 by Leah Messinger
Land management changes are also on the table for the Bolinas Lagoon in Marin County. Beginning in the 1880s, logging, …
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Cal Academy Ant Exhibit
April 01, 2004 by Leah Messinger
On May 1, the California Academy of Sciences will open its new (temporary) doors at 875 Howard Street in downtown …
Mount Diablo Audubon Christmas Count Results
April 01, 2004 by Leah Messinger
The Mount Diablo Audubon Society’s 51st annual Christmas Bird Count, which took place on December 14, 2003, benefited from sunnier …
International Migratory Bird Day 2004
April 01, 2004 by Leah Messinger
Birds will again be studied—and celebrated—at the International Migratory Bird Day festival at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National …
Magna Albany Mall Plan
April 01, 2004 by Leah Messinger
In May of 2002, Magna Entertainment Corporation, owner of the Golden Gate Fields racetrack, adjacent to Berkeley and Albany, proposed …
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Marine Sanctuaries Public Comment
April 01, 2004 by Leah Messinger
The Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association is also encouraging folks from coastal California to participate in several last-chance review planning sessions …
Mother’s Day for All Species, CNPS Wildflower Expo
April 01, 2004 by Leah Messinger
As you celebrate Mother’s Day this spring, think beyond the family unit. In fact, why not commemorate Mother’s Day for …
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Grassland Heritage
April 01, 2004 by David Amme
When Spanish explorers first saw the San Francisco Bay in 1769, they found a land cloaked largely in perennial grasses. But the extirpation of the native elk herds that grazed the land, the introduction of cattle, and the incursion of European annual grasses abruptly and dramatically transformed the landscape into the familiar green hillside carpets that turn into brown thickets in summer. Today’s grasslands, altered as they are, still produce some beautiful wildflowers, lots of wildlife, and if we look closely, remnants of the native bunchgrasses of yore, which can be enhanced with careful management. The parks of the East Bay hills are a good place to start looking for that mix of the grasslands of yesterday and today.
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Grazing for Change
April 01, 2004 by Cindy Spring
When two hikers complained to state park rangers recently about an area severely trampled by grazing cows, they drew on …
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Indian Paintbrush
April 01, 2004 by Geoffrey Coffey
It turns out that some of the Bay Area’s showiest wildflowers are also parasites that draw water and nutrients from their neighbors.
Letter from the Publisher
April 01, 2004 by David Loeb
Three summers ago, in late June, I took a hike at Purissima Redwoods on the Peninsula, a reserve managed by …
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Serpentine Splendor
April 01, 2004 by Carolyn J. Strange
Tucked into less than a square mile of land next to a freeway, the Peninsula’s Edgewood Park is a showcase for stunning wildflower diversity, all the result of our region’s unique geology.
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The Courtship of Herons
April 01, 2004 by Rob Lee
All around the Bay Area in spring, herons and egrets begin their annual transformation from mostly solitary top predators to birds gathered in crowded breeding colonies. Local photographer Philip Greene has spent years following the whole subtle and spectacular process by which these large birds break down their resistance to social communion: the changing color of bills and legs, the growth of flowing nuptial plumage, and the complex gestures and dances that make up the fine art of getting to know one another.
