In the early 1970s, when the Army Corps of Engineers built a weir across Alameda Creek to stabilize a railroad crossing and the new BART tracks, they also blocked steelhead from swimming to upstream spawning grounds. Given the numerous dams … Read more
Wildlife
Fall Issue 2004
Book Review: Sierra Birds: A Hiker’s Guide
Sierra Birds: A Hiker’s Guide, by John Muir Laws, California Academy of Sciences/ Heyday Books, 2004, 64 pages, $9.95 (www.heydaybooks.com). Jack Laws, Bay Nature’s own “Naturalist’s Notebook” illustrator and a research and education associate with the California Academy of Sciences, … Read more
Fall Issue 2004
California Condor Recovery and Releases at Pinnacles
Twenty years ago, we nearly lost the California condor. When only 22 were left in the world, an intensive and controversial captive-breeding program began. The last wild bird was captured in 1987. Wildlife biologists freed the first captive-bred birds in … Read more
Fall Issue 2004
Listing of the California Tiger Salamander
With the rainy season upon us, California tiger salamanders will soon emerge from the depths of squirrel and gopher burrows in grasslands and oak savannas to breed in freshwater ponds. The reclusive amphibians will travel over a mile in search … Read more
Fall Issue 2004
Wildlife Surveys at Bayview-Hunters Point
In one of the most environmentally degraded places on the eastern shore of San Francisco, you would not expect to see harbor seals, cormorants, numerous shorebirds, and snakes and lizards hiding in discarded debris. But after a year of gazing … Read more
Summer Issue 2004
Presidio Art Exhibit: Birds of the Pacific Slope
This summer, a new exhibit in San Francisco’s Presidio celebrates one of the world’s most diverse urban bird habitats. From July 9 through August 29, “Birds of the Pacific Slope: Sights and Songs” fills the galleries of the Presidio Officers’ … Read more
Summer Issue 2004
Cooper’s Hawk Surveys in the Bay Area
At the sight of a diving juvenile Cooper’s hawk, “the squirrel reared back and opened its mouth with its paws raised in the air in a defensive pose,” notes Jim Brulet while monitoring a nest in the city of Berkeley. … Read more
Summer Issue 2004
Dredging up an Avian Oasis
What do you get when you scoop up 250,000 cubic yards of muck from the Petaluma River? Prime shorebird habitat, of course. Unlikely as it may seem, Shollenberger Park is a place where birders have spotted 150 bird species, from nesting avocets and stilts to harriers and egrets. And a new addition to the park will make it one of the largest publicly accessible stretches of wetlands in the Bay Area.
Spring Issue 2004
Cal Academy Ant Exhibit
On May 1, the California Academy of Sciences will open its new (temporary) doors at 875 Howard Street in downtown San Francisco. As it rebuilds its Golden Gate Park location, more than 85 percent of the animals from the permanent … Read more
Spring Issue 2004
Mount Diablo Audubon Christmas Count Results
The Mount Diablo Audubon Society’s 51st annual Christmas Bird Count, which took place on December 14, 2003, benefited from sunnier weather and better visibility than the previous year. About 60 volunteer bird counters spotted more than 51,000 birds representing 148 … Read more
