A Flood of Hope
My most inspiring bike ride this past year was not on a mountain or in some exotic destination. It was sixteen flat and muddy valley miles under overcast skies.
The Spring 2026 Issue
Moth Goggles
We’re surrounded by a world of insects that we barely notice. Put on your goggles and get immersed in the riot of colors and patterns, and the lives of moths.
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LATEST STORIES
When Summer Heat Arrives in March
In an unprecedented heat wave, we check in on the newts, the bears, the mussels, and all those flowers that just woke up for spring.
Where to See Vernal Pools This Spring
After the winter rains, these temporary pools often transform into rings of wildflowers.
Could Oil Derricks Come To Mount Diablo?
BLM wants to open up areas for drilling near beloved Bay Area parks and wild spaces. We break down how likely that is.
Bay Nature Events
Celebrate 25 Years of Bay Nature
📅 Sunday April 12, 2026 from 2pm to 6pm
📍 The Golden Gate Club, The Presidio
IN SEASON IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
What makes wildflowers so colorful?
At the precise moment we are looking at them, flowers are sending light rays back to us. But not all of them are sending us the same kind of light in the same way. The different colors are different wavelengths of light. The ultimate source of all of this light…
The Mourning Cloak Butterfly Means Spring in the Bay Area
The mourning cloak butterfly, Nymphalis antiopa, is one of the most widely distributed butterflies in the world, ranging across most of the northern hemisphere. In some places like the British Isles it’s quite rare and to find one would make a lepidopterist’s day, but in California it’s a relatively common…
Staff picks
What Does Trampling Do to Wildflowers?
How much damage does trampling do to wildflowers? No other state is as iconic for its flora as California, so it’s no surprise that thousands of Californians have flocked to Southern California to experience wildflower heaven in this year’s “super bloom.” But as social media users post glamour shots of themselves smothered in wildflowers, others…
Can We Have More Whales and Fewer Whale Strikes?
Anchovies sparkled and seawater sprayed from the crusty maws of gray whales as they burst through the surface, again and again, off the coast near Pacifica, fifteen miles south of San Francisco. Groups of up to six gray whales devoured fish for 28 days straight in June 2022. This was no ordinary feast. For those…
Did Salmon Always Live in San José?
After an absence of many decades, Chinook salmon swim up the Guadalupe River in San José most winters. The fish look for places to lay eggs and often find them. If there’s enough water left in the dry season, their offspring swim back down the river in the spring to head out to sea. Surprisingly,…
Visit the Yolo Bypass for A Highway, a Wetland and 250,000 Bats
The Yolo Causeway is more than just link between here and there. It’s the summer residence of a thriving colony of Mexican free-tailed bats.
