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Two grinding rocks once used by the native Patwin people at Lynch Canyon Open Space in Solano County are perfectly situated. There are strong winds for winnowing the skin from the acorns, a small creek for flushing the bitter tannins, … Read more
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At the Moss Landing Marina halfway between Santa Cruz and Monterey, I slip into a kayak and paddle toward Elkhorn Slough, one of California’s largest tidal salt marshes. Just beyond the mouth of the slough, Monterey Canyon reaches seaward for … Read more
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Across San Pablo Bay, Contra Costa County is also trying to manage growth wisely. The population here is expected to increase by 127,000 within 20 years, and housing for those newcomers will be built somewhere. The trouble is, developers are … Read more
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Walnut grower Craig McNamara often gets asked about his father, Robert McNamara, former U.S. secretary of defense (1961—68) and World Bank president (1968—81). But the younger McNamara lives far removed from the halls of power in Washington: Since buying his … Read more
Two hundred years ago, the captain of a 280-ton whaling vessel reported seeing a bounty of fur seals on the Farallon Islands, 28 miles west of San Francisco. Subsequently, the captain and a small group of Boston-based whalers returned to … Read more
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No matter where you live in the Bay Area, you’ve likely noticed the sinewy, graceful forms of great blue herons and great and snowy egrets. These sylphlike birds are mostly solitary, whether flying overhead or braced in stillness for the … Read more
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It’s no longer a secret to readers of this magazine that native plant gardens can look as beautiful as those stocked with showy exotics, while at the same time providing habitat for native insects and birds and conserving water and … Read more
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From November to February this past winter, biologists scoured lower Russian River tributaries in search of spawning coho salmon. The fish they were hoping to find were no ordinary salmon, but the hatchery-spawned offspring of wild salmon. The survivors from … Read more
Last November, the Bay Area electorate headed to the polls to help decide the fate of several important land-use issues. As our votes slowly turn into policy and action on the ground, Bay Nature asked two regional open space advocacy … Read more
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Thanks to our mild climate and productive ecosystems, many species of animals (including people) migrate to and through the Bay Area. Winter is a great time to learn about some of them. In the North Bay, on Mare Island in … Read more
