Winter 2024 Almanac: Manroots, Skinks, and Avocets
You didn’t imagine it. That was a tiny blue tail you saw wriggling through the damp leaves and brush. Illustrations by Jane Kim.
Science and Nature
A River Runs Above Us
In mid-November 2021, a great storm begins brewing in the central Pacific Ocean north of Hawai‘i. Especially warm water, heated by the sun, steams off the sea surface and funnels...
Inside the East Oakland Plant Nursery That’s Breaking the Incarceration Cycle
“Nobody's got our kind of re-entry program that mixes soil, re-entry, healing, and good pay,” says Planting Justice's operations manager, Lynn Vidal.
Bay Nature’s Best, Deepest, and Weirdest Reads of 2023
Stories of the birds and the beasts, plus plants, protists, and fungi. The whales versus the crabbers, a shortage of seeds, an unexpected lake, kelp babies; dirt bikers, vaxxed condors,...
As Cities Heat Up, USDA Grants $42 Million for Urban Trees Around the Bay
The money is meant to fix longstanding tree-cover gaps in disadvantaged neighborhoods—but it’s a fraction of what’s needed.
The Comeback Quail
The official bird of San Francisco has been AWOL in the city for years. But the Presidio hopes to change that.
All Vaxxed Up and Ready to Roost, Six Captive-Born Condors Fly Free
Though, faced with freedom, Condor 1139 and his fellow juveniles take their sweet time to step across the threshold. "We're on condor time," says a program manager.
It’s Looking Like a Banner Year for Baby Newts in the North Bay
“In some areas, they blanketed the road,” says a volunteer newt-rescue organizer.
Apparently Coyotes Can Climb Trees
Or at least there’s one in Moraga that can, as this video shows.
Newfangled Horizontal Levees Rise (Gently) Across the Bay
A dozen such projects have sprouted, offering habitat-friendly flood protection. Getting permission for them is a challenge.
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