Riding the autumn winds, the sandhill cranes are returning to the California Delta.
A Festival of Cranes
November 3, 2015 •
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
February 5, 2015 •
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
November 6, 2014 •
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
October 7, 2014 •
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!
July 10, 2014 •
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 County to Mori Point on the San Mateo coast. Their … Read more
Bioblitz Turns Up Ancient Find in the Presidio
June 24, 2014 •
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 forms of animal life.
Ocean Acidification: Making Sense of Crabs and Skeptics
October 9, 2013 •
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
October 7, 2013 •
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 beginning to figure that out.
Meet The Smallest Sandpipers of the San Francisco Bay
January 15, 2013 •
Our two local sandpipers are cute as buttons, hard to tell apart, and eat primordial ooze. What’s not to love?
Planet Fungi
September 27, 2012 •
Culinary uses aside, fungi have their own aesthetic appeal: the spectral elegance of the amanitas, the vivid reds and greens of the waxy caps.