Keeping Clapper Rails High and Dry
New artificial islands at Oakland’s Arrowhead Marsh provide some welcome refuge for endangered clapper rails. But can they be expanded into enough other habitats to keep the birds safe from...
Wildlife
Butterflies, Pelicans, and Bobcats at Point Reyes
As part of his Point Reyes Walkabout, Jules Evens covers 10 miles on the Estero Trail, spots a bobcat, and logs a record-early sighting of a common butterfly, possibly thanks...
Elephant seals occupy area beaches
Thousands of elephant seals have colonized beaches to partake in annual, combative mating rituals. The mass of beached blubber is not just a tourist spectacle. It also draws the attention...
A Bobcat Day in Bear Valley
The Bear Valley trail, heading southwest from Park Headquarters to the coast, is one of the emblematic walks, and the most traveled trail, on the Point Reyes Peninsula. Jules covers...
Great year to view monarch butterflies
Monarchs may be the most celebrated and regal of the Lepidoptera, and they're hitting record highs in the Bay Area. Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont is estimating their numbers at...
Naturalist’s Notebook: Migrating Birds Fill Up in Flooded Rice Fields
Artist Jack Laws headed out for some great birdwatching among the rice fields of the Sacramento Valley -- and you can too!
Killer Algae on Sonoma Coast
In late August, environmental scientist Laura Rogers-Bennett was driving back to Bodega Bay after conducting ocean surveys in Mendocino when she saw "dark-coffee-colored water" north of Salt Point State Park....
Where the wild birds live
It may not be the most bucolic locale, but Alameda County's backyard, parks, and city scapes are nesting spots for 175 bird species. A decade effort to track them down...
Reporter’s Notebook: Two birders, a Few Wastewater Ponds, 104 Species of Birds
How do you see 104 species of birds in one day at a wastewater pond? Ride along on a Christmas Bird Count with PRBO Conservation ornithologist Rich Stallcup and partner...
Uncovering Nature’s Treasures with David Wimpfheimer
From whale-watching expeditions to wildflower forays to the annual Christmas Bird Count, naturalist David Wimpfheimer takes great pleasure in leading people on what he likes to call natural "treasure hunts."
