Exploring Nature in the San Francisco Bay Area
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently won an award form the National Park Trust (really), apparently for not closing the parks after all. But it’s the hundreds of volunteers across the region who are helping remaining staff keep things together, while they also fight for a permanent funding solution.
On the heels of Santa Clara County’s 2007 breeding bird atlas comes Contra Costa County’s companion for north Bay Area birders. This year the Mount Diablo Audubon Society released the Breeding Bird Atlas of Contra Costa County.
Yes, the silver and pink flashers are working their way up Marin County creeks to spawn. Paola Bouley, conservation director for the Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (SPAWN), reported seeing coho spawners on October 21, 2009. The group is beginning its tenth year of naturalist-led creek walks on what’s now our state’s largest remaining coho…
At 2,463 feet, Sonoma Mountain is not even close to our region’s tallest peak. But its broad slopes hold a remarkable diversity of iconic Bay Area landscapes, from redwood groves to oak woodlands to ranchlands and vineyards. And at the summit, the views sweep from ocean to valley. With new acquisitions and trails in the…
2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, the Marin-based organization that tracks the movements of birds of prey over the Marin Headlands. Since 1984, more than 1,500 volunteers have logged 40,000 hours alongside staff and scientists to monitor raptors along one of West Coast’s most trafficked migratory routes.
Martinez’s downtown beavers first captured the hearts of local residents, who last year derailed plans to remove the animals due to flood worries. Now, the beavers are busy making homes for other critters, including mink, otters, birds. And, perhaps, salmon…
Independent, nonprofit environmental journalism connecting people with nature in the San Francisco Bay Area.
