Bay Area Nature Spring Almanac: Ringtails and Bushtits
This spring features ephemeral amphibians, sticky flowers, architectural bushtits, elusive not-cats, ocean drifters, and various antler enthusiasts.
Wildlife
The Bird Nest Detectives
Century-old bird nests help scientists time-travel to San Francisco Bay’s lost plant communities.
A Nasty Salmon-Killing Tire Chemical Is in Bay Waterways. Can It Be Cleaned Up?
6PPD-quinone comes from a long-used chemical that will be hard to replace in tires. But green infrastructure like "living levees" may help trap it.
Something Fishy Is Happening Inside the Ears of Delta Smelt
Abnormalities in the ear bones of hatchery-reared delta smelt could challenge efforts to save the endangered fish.
The Bald Eagles Have Landed in Alameda, and They’re Building a Nest
Longtime birder and Alameda local Rick Lewis found the nest, and he's been discreetly visiting it almost daily since. No sign of eggs yet, but the birds seem good so...
The Latest Bird Flu Pandemic Is Terrible—And Strange
"The landscape is riddled with risk out there right now, but we don’t want to vilify the carriers,” says one expert. “They’re just doing their thing. They’re being ducks.” So,...
Winter 2023 Almanac: Fireballs and Butter
Keep your eye out for these winter wonders.
Naturalist’s Notebook: Thrush Henge
You can use thrushes as a sort of seasonal calendar, as they fly in and out of the Bay Area.
After 2022’s Fatal Algal Bloom, Scientists Fear the Bay’s Sturgeon Could Go Extinct
At Point Pinole, 21 sturgeon carcasses––some more than seven feet long––lay strewn along a mile-long stretch of beach in late August 2022, baking in the relentless heat. It was the...
How a ‘Sturgeon Surgeon’ Tracks the Bay’s Giant, Stealthy Living Fossils
Researchers are investigating the secrets of our two resident sturgeon species, which have razor-sharp armor and shlorp up clams with their vacuum-shaped mouths.
