Naturalist’s Notebook: See the World in a Velella
Did you know that you an find an echo of the spin of the planet in the sails of the by-the-wind sailors that wash ashore in spring and early summer?
Volcano Baby
How the Sutter Buttes turned up, all alone, in the Central Valley.
The Spring 2026 Issue
Where the Tides Have Returned
Lookout Slough, the largest wetland restoration in the Delta, provides 26 miles of channels explorable by nonmotorized boat.
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LATEST STORIES
A Popular Native Plant Garden Tour is Back This Weekend, and Bigger Than Ever
Dozens of gardens will be on view this weekend in the East Bay’s Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour.
The Charmed Life of Doug McConnell
A Bay Area icon of travel in the West and local nature for four decades passed away in January. A remembrance from Bay Nature co-founder David Loeb.
Sargent Ranch Is Protected. Who Will Steward It?
POST has purchased more than 6,000 acres of oak woodlands near Gilroy, saving it from becoming a sand and gravel mine. It’s land that is sacred to the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band.
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IN SEASON IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Skippers: Between Butterfly and Moth
When butterfly mania took hold of me, decades back, I thought I’d never crack the skippers’ code: the creatures are impish, and maddening to learn.
An Indigenous Garden Takes Root
A $900,000 EPA grant funds a Cafe Ohlone x California State University collaboration.
Where to See Vernal Pools This Spring
After the winter rains, these temporary pools often transform into rings of wildflowers.
Staff picks
Eulogy for a Crayfish We Hardly Knew
The death knell for the sooty crayfish probably sounded with the introduction of its cousin from the north.
A Trip to the Farallones, to See Birds on the Edge
A journalist takes a rare trip to the Farallones, to see how the more than half a million seabirds that breed there each year are doing.
A Rare Closeup on the Delta Green Ground Beetle, a Predator of the Pools
The quarter-inch-long, brilliantly colored Delta green ground beetle is “still a bit of a mystery,” even to experts.
Where Do Morel Mushrooms Grow in Northern California?
They’re one of the most sought-after edible mushrooms in the world. At least 10 species live in the Bay Area.
What Species Are San Francisco’s Parrots? It’s Complicated.
A new genomic study suggests they’re their own thing. That’s probably thanks to one bold bird.
