Kate Brittain

Clear Skies Ahead

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Dig out the binoculars; it’s clear skies ahead. In the Bay Area, the winter months are your best bet for a clear view of, well, anything you’re trying to spy–be it bird, Big Dipper or sweeping vista.

On the Rocks, with a Pup

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If you’re looking for northern elephant seals, there is no place better to visit than Ano Nuevo State Reserve, home to the world’s largest mainland breeding colony.

It’s Raining…Rain Beetles?

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As April showers are to May flowers in other parts of the country, so are autumn rains to the rain beetle here in the Bay Area. The rainy season’s first soaking precipitation (an inch or more) beckons forth this remarkable insect.

The Sandhill Homecoming

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Every fall, thousands of graceful sandhill cranes arrive in the Central Valley to spend the winter. They’re a sight not to be missed!

Tarantula Trekking

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Whether you’re cautiously curious or already avid, autumn is the time to go tarantula-spotting in the Bay Area. It’s mating season for the hairy critters, and, accordingly, the males are venturing forth from the ground in search of potential partners, who coyly await their suitors on their burrows’ “doorsteps,” and try to eat them after the fact.