Exploring Nature in the San Francisco Bay Area
Look in your backyard right now, and there’s a decent chance you’ll see the ornate webs of our local orbweaver spiders. After feeding on insects all spring and summer, banded garden spiders and yellow garden spiders get big and very noticeable in fall, just before they lay their eggs and die.
Watch for hungry dragonflies and jays darting about: That can be a sign that the termites are emerging! Termites live mostly underground (or in our walls!) but as winter approaches, they grow wings and take to the air in droves to form new colonies.
The classic image of a redwood forest is one of stately tall trees, dense shade, and lots of green. The columnar trunks of the giant trees draw our gaze up to the high canopy, but if we follow them down to the forest floor instead, in summer months we may find unexpected points of brilliant…
In the early hours from moonset to dawn between August 8 and 14, skywatchers in the Bay Area will be able to see the spectacular annual show put on by the Perseid meteor shower. At its peak on August 12, the tiny cast-off comet particles will streak across the sky at rates up to 60…
During summer, this glowing Pacific fish makes nests in the muds of the San Francisco Bay and attracts a mate with humming.
The Ventana Wildlife Society, which leads California condor restoration efforts, is looking for public support after Big Sur’s massive wildfire wiped out its rearing and release facility.
Independent, nonprofit environmental journalism connecting people with nature in the San Francisco Bay Area.
