A Festival of Cranes
Riding the autumn winds, the sandhill cranes are returning to the California Delta.
Author Archives: Joe Eaton
Joe Eaton lives in Berkeley and writes for the San Francisco Chronicle and Estuary News.
Shapeshifter, Trickster, Survivor: Coyote in the Modern World
Coyotes have been remarkably resilient and tenacious, surviving—thriving, even—in our midst as a relict and a messenger from a much wilder California.
A Turkey Vulture Named Vlad, and the History of a Common, Indispensable and Little-Known Bird
Turkey vultures are a common sight in the Bay Area, but we still know little about them.
When It Comes to Smell, the Turkey Vulture Stands (Nearly) Alone
Turkey vultures can locate food by scent alone -- but it took naturalists a while to figure that out.
It’s Fun! It’s Science! It’s a Bioblitz!
On the last weekend of March, 9,000 people armed with binoculars, butterfly nets, cameras, and smartphones, spread out over an archipelago of national park lands from Point Reyes in Marin...
Bioblitz Turns Up Ancient Find in the Presidio
One of the most unexpected finds of the March Golden Gate National Parks bioblitz, at El Polin Springs in the Presidio, was a freshwater sponge, one of the most ancient...
Ocean Acidification: Making Sense of Crabs and Skeptics
Like other aspects of climate science, ocean acidification (OA) science has created much debate, particularly when it comes to its impact on hard shelled sea creatures such as crabs.
Ocean Acid Trip: The Hidden Harm of Climate Change
Seawater has historically been alkaline, but is increasingly becoming less so. What does this mean for the ocean ecosystem in general? And along the California coast in particular? We’re just...
Meet The Smallest Sandpipers of the San Francisco Bay
Our two local sandpipers are cute as buttons, hard to tell apart, and eat primordial ooze. What's not to love?
Planet Fungi
Culinary uses aside, fungi have their own aesthetic appeal: the spectral elegance of the amanitas, the vivid reds and greens of the waxy caps.
