Behind the scenes of a frenetic, 13-hour birding challenge.
How Many Birds Can Be Found in the Bay Area in One Day?
June 15, 2022 •
First Look
Timely news, art, ideas and science from the natural world of Northern California.
When an Animal Dies in a National Park, What Does the Park Service Do With It?
June 14, 2022 •
Large carcasses can’t just be wiped up. What are the other options?
The Reintroduction Odyssey of the Yurok Condors
June 9, 2022 •
It took decades of work to prepare for this spring’s Northern California condor restoration on Yurok Tribal land.
They Live in Your Garden, Have Flexible Head Arrangements, and May or May Not Cause Problems. Meet the Land Planarians, About Which We Know Very Little.
May 24, 2022 •
“The time is ripe for biologists to unravel the diversity, ecology, and natural history of land flatworms,” one scientist writes
This Is a Story About A Super-Cute Long-tailed Weasel Spotted in San Francisco’s Presidio for the First Time in a Century…
May 19, 2022 •
Erica Spotswood, the science director of the San Francisco Estuary Institute’s Urban Nature Lab, got her dissertation studying seed dispersal on the French Polynesian islands of Tahiti and Moorea. A kind of low-growing fruit tree named Miconia calvescens had arrived … Read more
Bay Planners Highlight Another Missing Element in California Environmental Law: It Doesn’t Account Well for the Future
May 18, 2022 •
As the California Supreme Court wrote, “CEQA does not require an agency to consider the impact of existing conditions on future project users.”
With One Threat Nearly Tamed, a Related Question: What Does the Bay Most Need to Be Saved From?
May 5, 2022 •
If you look up the Arrowhead Marsh along the Oakland shoreline on Google Maps, the arrowhead shape is striking. If you look closer, you see that the eastern half of the marsh is noticeably darker in color than the western … Read more
Meet An Ancient, Amazing Fish in Need of an Image Makeover
April 20, 2022 •
Cape Horn is a concrete and earth-filled dam on the upper Eel River in Mendocino County. About 140 miles north of San Francisco, the dam was built in 1907 and blocks the waters of the Eel to form the Van … Read more
The Second-Largest Fish In the Ocean Seems to be In Decline
April 12, 2022 •
Basking sharks can be over 30 feet long and are characterized by their enormous gill rakers and three-foot tall dorsal fins. But these mysterious, massive, filter-feeding cousins of the great white shark aren’t just a scientific curiosity – they also … Read more
The Bay Area is the Center of an Evolutionary Race Between Hungry Snakes and Toxic Newts
April 6, 2022 •
Newts carry enough toxin to kill a dozen people. Yet in the Bay Area garter snakes feast on them without harm.