A Particular Here, Now
It is a human impulse to wonder at the limits of what we know through experience alone.
After Elephant Seal Deaths, the Race Is On for Bird Flu Investigators
A big question now is whether the virus will spread between seals.
The Winter 2026 Issue
California’s Blackbird
The tricolored blackbird traverses the Golden State with cat calls and friends.
Underneath California Forever
Tech billionaires are fighting for their proposed 400,000-person city in Solano County. At least 21 imperiled species depend on the ecosystems where the new city could be built.
Being a Salamander
In a tiny hollow beneath a log, reflected in my headlamp’s glow, were two gold-flecked black eyes and a dull pinkish snout.
Winter 2026 Almanac: Sea Stars and Scoters
Life during winter can have ups and downs over the years.
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LATEST STORIES
Environmental Groups Sue to Save Bedrock Federal Climate Policy
The Trump administration is retreating from climate action, big time. Bay Area advocates are getting in the fray. More lawsuits are sure to come.
Meet The Deep-Diving, Ear-Splitting 4,500-Pound Rock Star of Año Nuevo
Elephant seals are among the most extreme animals on earth. Will it be enough to help them survive extreme change?
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’s It Like Inside a Woodrat Nest?
What might seem like a haphazard assemblage of forest debris belies a very complicated interior design.
Discover the Rare Blooms of Huckleberry Preserve in the East Bay Hills
Rare plants are common in California. Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve sits in an ideal location to display some of the rarest of them.
The Beach as Office
I go to the beach in January. Sometimes I bring a sweater and a hat. I go to the beach in June in work clothes and roll up the cuffs. It reminds me why I’m still in California, what my rent really includes, that I’m alive…
Staff picks
Kehoe Marsh and McClures Beach in Winter
Discover diverse wildlife and great sunsets, even in winter, with naturalist Jules Evens at McClure’s Beach, Point Reyes. This is his second-to-last post in a yearlong quest to hike and write about every trail at Point Reyes.
The Rock in the Redwoods
Take a hike to a scene of otherworldly geology, hidden away in this Peninsula preserve’s forests of tanoak, Douglas-fir, and second-growth redwood.
Why Do Mushrooms Return to the Same Place?
Do mushrooms require a certain kind of substrate?
Scientists Are Decoding the Love Language of Pacific Chorus Frogs
For a male frog wanting a mate, it is vitally important to stand out, to be heard in his declarations, for listeners to glean his meaning.
