Q: Are native bees suffering the same “colony collapse disorder” as honeybees? [Linda, San Ramon] A: Colony collapse disorder, or CCD, has gotten a lot of media attention, and with good reason. The western honeybee (Apis mellifera) is native to … Read more
At Home with the Packrats
What’s that pile of sticks over there? It could be the home of a dusky-footed woodrat. If you could see inside, you’d find a tidy little home complete with bedrooms, a pantry, and even a few latrines!
Book Review: Birds of Napa County
Birds of Napa County, by Herman Heinzel, Heyday Books, 2006, 132 pages, $12.95 www.heydaybooks.com The common image of Napa County is a world of wine, fine cuisine, and row upon row of grapevines. But Herman Heinzel’s Birds of Napa County … Read more
Book Review: Califauna: A Literary Field Guide
Califauna: A Literary Field Guide, edited by Terry Beers and Emily Elrod, Heyday Books, 2007, 293 pages, $21.95 www.heydaybooks.com The bookworm interested in a true literary field guide to California wildlife need look no further than Califauna. Part anthology, part … Read more
Book Review: Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions
Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions, by Arthur M. Shapiro and Tim Manolis, UC Press, 2007, 359 pages, $18.95 www.ucpress.edu That butterflies are interesting comes as no surprise—they are charismatic, colorful, and often … Read more
Book Review: Neptune’s Ark: From Ichthyosaurs to Orcas
Neptune’s Ark: From Ichthyosaurs to Orcas, by David Rains Wallace, UC Press, 2007, 313 pages, $27.50 www.ucpress.edu The thin continental margin that is today the Pacific coast of North America has changed quite a bit over the last half billion … Read more
Diving into Our Ocean Sanctuaries
While living for a while on the Monterey Peninsula, I found myself drawn time and again from the cafes and shops of Pacific Grove down to the waters of Monterey Bay. Sometimes I would just sit on a bench and look for sea otters resting and feeding their pups in the undulating kelp beds. My time in Monterey was a small but privileged window into the wonderful diversity that makes the central coast of California one of the richest marine ecosystems in the world…
Making Waves for a Healthy Ocean
When I stand on San Francisco’s Ocean Beach and look west, it’s difficult for me to comprehend that we humans can have any impact of consequence on a body of water that is so vast, let alone impacts that are … Read more
Drakes Bay Oyster Farm
In Schooner Bay, Drakes Bay Oyster Farm grows oysters and clams, producing 85 percent of the shellfish raised in Marin County. Point Reyes National Seashore, the company’s landlord, has long planned to close the farm when its 40-year lease expires … Read more
Elfin Butterfly
To us, the San Bruno elfin butterfly, with its one-inch wingspan, seems small, but to the ants that protected it during its larval stage, it must seem a giant. On rocky north-facing outcrops on San Bruno Mountain in South San … Read more