California Coho Salmon In Dire Straits

January 7, 2010 •  by

The collapse of Central California Coast coho salmon population is imminent, according to a report by the National Marine Fisheries in late December 2009. Numbers of returning coho may be too low to support a viable population.

Protesting Burrowing Owl Eviction

January 6, 2010 •  by

An ongoing controversy over the displacement of burrowing owls in Antioch brought out 40 local residents and others from across the Bay Area on Sunday for a march to protest the eviction and push for better protections for the owls across the state.

At Home Under the Log

January 1, 2010 •  by

A world awaits discovery under almost any humble log in winter, whether it’s in your backyard or deep in the woods. Lift that log and make some new discoveries. Just be sure to put that log back carefully…

Beyond Jaws

January 1, 2010 •  by

Fast, silent, and deadly, the great white shark has long evoked both fear and awe among those who live, work, and play along the California coast. Yet for all its press–both good and bad–we’ve known remarkably little about the life of this iconic creature. But recent scientific studies using pioneering tracking techniques are finally giving us a better look at the white shark’s wide-ranging haunts and habits.

Rafting Time for Diving Ducks

January 1, 2010 •  by

The great rafts of ducks on San Francisco and Tomales bays, mostly surf scoter, greater and lesser scaup, and canvasback, are a wintertime spectacle. Scoter flocks can range from many hundreds to a few thousand birds. Why do they form these aggregations?

Antioch Developer Evicts Burrowing Owls

December 21, 2009 •  by

Scott and Heather Artis of Antioch have adopted a local community of burrowing owls as their own stewardship project and were looking forward to this year’s nesting season, but in November 2009 the state handed the owls an eviction notice, to make way for a housing development…