Acorn Woodpeckers Expand Range in Search of Meager Acorn Supplies
The failure of the spring rains this year may have something to do with woodpeckers foraging in Berkeley and San Francisco.
Water
Was California’s Extreme Drought Part of Our New Climate Normal?
Was California's record-breaking 2013-2015 drought a window into the future?
From Shanghai to San Francisco Bay, a Q&A With Igor Skaredoff
The son of Russian immigrants living in post-war Shanghai, Igor Skaredoff moved to California with his parents at the age of six, and has been here for most of his life. After a long career as an environmental engineer for … Read more
Nature Below Dolores Park, One Way or Another
A Dolores Park construction hole filled with water. Was this the clue to an unresolved mystery, and a window into a piece of San Francisco history?
Ask The Naturalist: How Will the Drought Impact Amphibians?
Question: Will newts, frogs and salamanders be out in full force in the Bay Area this spring?
The Beauty of an Atmospheric River
The forecast calls for big rain this weekend from an "atmospheric river," a plume of moisture stretching thousands of miles across the Pacific and splashing onto land right smack on the Northern California coast.
The Napa River Through Time
There's a lot more to the Napa Valley than wineries and fancy food. Look closely and the landscape reveals clues to a past full of greater ecological complexity, from beaver ponds to vast freshwater marshes. New research into that history may point the way to a more biodiverse future.
Bringing Light to Dragonfly Creek
Workers at the Presidio are working to restore a stretch of creek that's been buried for nearly a century. Soon enough, Dragonfly Creek should, once again, be alive with its namesake insects.
Making up for a Bigger Dam at Los Vaqueros
The Contra Costa Water District is enlarging Los Vaqueros Reservoir, inundating 340 acres of land that was supposed to be permanently protected. To make up for it, they’re going on a land-buying spree.
Road vs. Stream in Niles Canyon
State Route 84 twists and turns along Alameda Creek through Niles Canyon between Fremont and Sunol. An effort by Caltrans to make the road safer has hit a roadblock: Environmental groups, local citizens, and the City of Fremont claim that widening and straightening the road will simply encourage drivers to go faster while harming a creek that has been the focus of steelhead trout restoration efforts.
