2013—A Bay Nature Year In Photos -

According to the Chinese zodiac calendar, 2013 was the year of the snake. For California, it was the driest year in recorded history. For the Endangered Species Act, 2013 signaled its 40th year anniversary. And for the California Audubon Society, 2013 was the year of the burrowing owl.

For Bay Nature, 2013 brought environmental news, features and photography celebrating and capturing not only nature’s beauty but its resiliency and vulnerability.

January

Monarch butterfly populations in the Bay Area were at about half of their 2012 numbers.

Monarch butterflies. Photo: David Slater.

February

San Francisco’s infamous Sutro Sam was receiving a little too much attention earlier this year.

March

Volunteers transformed Pedro Point, home to the new Devil’s Slide tunnels, into a healthier wildlife habitat that’s also a great outdoors destination.

Volunteers for a San Francisco State revegetation project plant native plants on eroded slopes at Pedro Point. Photo by Dave Rauenbuehler.

April

Photographer Joan Sparks, gave us a glimpse into the life of 24 year old bald eagle, Sequoia.

A bald eagle in flight. Photo: Joan Sparks.

May

The 2013 Endangered Species Day coincided with the 40th Anniversary of the federal Endangered Species Act.

Snowy Plover ESA — The snowy plover is one Bay Area species protected under the Endangered Species Act. Photo: Ben Pless.

June

For the first time in 150 years, beavers returned to the heart of San Jose’s Guadalupe River.

A Beaver in Martinez. Photo: Cheryl Reynolds, Worth a Dam.

July

The East Bay Regional Park District purchased the Roddy Ranch property east of Mount Diablo as conservation land that will serve as an important wildlife corridor.

Roddy Ranch has become conservation land and will serve as an important wildlife corridor at the foothills of Mount Diablo. Photo: RHM Images. — Roddy Ranch at the foothills of Mount Diablo. Photo: RHM Images.

August

What’s in store for the desert species who’ve come to rely on an undeveloped landscape now threatened by fracking the Monterey shale?

The endangered San Joaquin kit fox. Photo: Greg Schechter.

September

Mount Diablo’s Morgan fire brought California’s year of wildfires close to home.

Mount Diablo after the Morgan Fire. Photo: George Philips.

October

Humpback whales often enter the Monterey Bay to feed in the summer months. This year, huge anchovy runs brought them in by the hundreds.

A humpback whale in the Monterey Bay uses 'lunge feeding' to feast upon the masses of anchovies in the Bay. Photo: Tory Kallman — A humpback whale in the Monterey Bay uses ‘lunge feeding’ to feast upon the masses of anchovies in the Bay. Photo: Tory Kallman

November

As supporters fight to save Knowland Park from the impending Oakland Zoo expansion, they are drawing attention to not only the gnarled coast live oak and stands of rare, maritime chaparral but also the thriving lichen community living beneath them.