See the calendar of upcoming events of the California Native Plants Society at https://www.cnps.org/events
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | June 1, 2026
Upcoming CNPS Events
Posted in Talks | Tags: Upcoming CNPS Events
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | June 1, 2026
Theodore Payne Foundation Upcoming Events
Theodore Payne Foundation inspires and educates Southern Californians about the beauty and ecological benefits of California native plant landscapes.We are located on 22 acres of canyon land in the northeast corner of the San Fernando Valley. Our full-service native plant nursery, seed room, book store, art gallery, demonstration gardens, and hiking trails are open to the public year round. We offer garden tours and classes for adults and families, as well as field trips to TPF and in-classroom programs for children. Friendly on-leash dogs are welcome and there is no admission charge!
See upcoming events at Theodore Payne Foundation Events – Upcoming Activities and Tickets | Eventbrite
Posted in Class/Workshop | Tags: Theodore Payne Foundation Upcoming Events
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | June 1, 2026
In Point Reyes, a National Park Service scientist has made an incredibly rare find
SF Gate reported
A National Park Service scientist has photographed a group of newly hatched California giant salamanders in the wild for the first time. Michael Reichmuth, a fisheries biologist, snapped a photo of the salamander larvae last September, according to an article published by the Park Service. Reichmuth spotted the salamanders while snorkeling in Olema Creek, a stream running through Point Reyes National Seashore.
Read more at In Point Reyes, a National Park Service scientist has made an incredibly rare find
Posted in Animals, Park | Tags: Giant Salamanders, Pt. Reyes
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 31, 2026
Plant believed extinct for 60 years suddenly reappears
ScienceDaily reported
- A random photo snapped in the Australian outback has led to the rediscovery of a plant thought extinct for nearly 60 years — proving that ordinary people with smartphones are quietly transforming science. After bird bander Aaron Bean uploaded pictures of a strange shrub to iNaturalist, botanist Anthony Bean immediately recognized it as Ptilotus senarius, a rare species missing since 1967.
Read more at Plant believed extinct for 60 years suddenly reappears
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Ptilotus senarius
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 30, 2026
Impossibly rare tropical bird swooped over California.
SF Gate reported
A mysterious seabird swooping over the waters off San Clemente in recent weeks has wowed local birders. This species has likely never visited Orange County before.
The California Bird Records Committee, a volunteer group with nine voting experts responsible for rare bird records, is investigating if the traveler is a lesser frigatebird, a tropical species.
Read more at Impossibly rare tropical bird swooped over California. Experts fear a trend.
Posted in Birds | Tags: Lesser Frigatebird
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 30, 2026
WHERE TO SPOT SPRING WILDFLOWERS IN CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS
Get a free copy of the Guide to Wildflowers in California from the California State Parks Foundation.
The guide includes:
- TIPS FOR VIEWING SPRING BLOOMS IN CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS
- STATE PARKS TO VISIT IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, CENTRAL CALIFORNIA, AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 29, 2026
Gray whales are washing up on North America’s Pacific coast in alarming number
LA Times reported
It’s looking like another really bad year for gray whales. Thus far, 23 have stranded or died along the Washington coast — outpacing the strandings recorded during the historic 2019 die-off. The number has been more modest farther south. There have been 20 beachings and deaths in California, down from 30 as of this time last year, but up from 10 in 2024. And there have been eight in Oregon, which according to Michael Milstein, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is also a record.
Read article at Gray whales are washing up on North America’s Pacific coast in alarming number
Posted in Animals | Tags: Whale Deaths
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 29, 2026
What Makes Poison Dart Frogs Poisonous?
Earth.com reported
Poison Dart Frogs are a brightly colored family of frogs measuring 1.5” long as adults, but are likely the most poisonous animals on earth.
Read on www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/what-makes-poison-dart-frogs-poisonous/
Posted in Animals | Tags: Poison Dart Frogs
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 28, 2026
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy Events
See a list of all active events and virtual events of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy at Events in the Parks | Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
Posted in Park, Talks, Walks & Hikes | Tags: Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 28, 2026
People are putting stickers all over Yosemite National Park’s most popular trail
SF Gate reported
As Yosemite National Park swells with visitors ahead of a reservation-free summer season, vandalism has started to become a problem along one of the park’s most popular hiking trails.
…stickers plastered over previously untouched interpretive signs, locks attached to metal railings and even names and initials etched into rocks and trees.
Read more at People are putting stickers all over Yosemite National Park’s most popular trail
Posted in Park | Tags: Vandalism at Yosemite, Vandalism in National Parks
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 27, 2026
National Park Entrance Fees Are Funding Trump’s D.C. Projects
The New York Times reported
The administration is spending at least $67 million worth of fees paid by visitors to national parks on fixing D.C. fountains and the Reflecting Pool.
— Read on www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/climate/park-service-fees-washington-trump.html
Posted in Park | Tags: National Park Spending
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 27, 2026
Regional Parks Botanic Garden Photos 5/25 & 5/26/26
Photographed in the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park in Berkeley, CA on May 25 and 26, 2026.
The Regional Parks Botanic Garden is a California native plant garden. It is located within Tilden Park in the hills above Berkeley, California, It is a 10-acre garden includes many of the state’s rare and endangered plants and a place for visitors to wander among trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses from plant communities throughout the state. There are free weekend and holiday tours. Admission and parking are free. For more information about the garden visit the Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden.
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 27, 2026
Yellowstone National Park wolf pups face ‘particularly lethal’ virus
SF Gate reported
Yellowstone National Park’s famous wolf packs are facing an invisible threat that’s bringing the number of surviving pups to historic lows: a contagious viral disease called canine distemper.
At the end of 2025, Yellowstone National Park had 84 wolves dispersed among seven packs, according to spokesperson Linda Veress. This amounts to an approximately 16% decrease from the average end-of-year population over the past 15 years. Veress told SFGATE that the number of Yellowstone wolves fluctuates and that the park still supports a “healthy population,” but also acknowledged that the virus is likely taking a toll.
Read more https://www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/virus-yellowstone-wolves-22277543.php
Posted in Animals, Park | Tags: Yellowstone wolves
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 27, 2026
Oak trees are delaying spring to starve caterpillars
ScienceDaily reported
Oak trees have a surprising trick to fight back against hungry caterpillars: they simply wait. When trees are heavily attacked one year, they delay leaf growth by just three days the next spring—long enough to leave newly hatched caterpillars with nothing to eat. This small shift slashes insect survival and reduces leaf damage by more than half, proving even more efficient than costly chemical defenses.
Read on www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/05/260504154019.htm
Posted in Animals, Environment, Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Adaptation to Climate Change, Oak Trees
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 26, 2026
Locals are pushing back on a logging proposal on the edge of Yellowstone National Park
SF Gate reported
Last summer, residents of Gardiner and Jardine, Montana, heard through the grapevine that a large-scale logging project might be coming to their doorstep on the northern edge of Yellowstone National Park. What’s since been proposed, though, is larger than they ever could have imagined.
It would entail 4,401 acres of logging and thinning, including 2,126 acres of commercial logging — with 824 acres of that clear-cut — as well as prescribed fire operations in the Custer Gallatin National Forest. The project would span four creek drainages and authorize the construction of 7 miles of new roads.
Read more Locals are pushing back on a logging proposal on the edge of Yellowstone National Park
Posted in Park | Tags: Yellowstone
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 25, 2026
Photos From My Garden 5/24/26
Posted in Garden, Photos (Sandy's), Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Garden Photos
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 25, 2026
Regional Parks Botanic Garden Native Fern SALE!
Regional Parks Botanic Garden Native Fern SALE!Three Days Only:
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Announcing our inventory reduction sale of California Native Ferns. Quantities and prices below (all are in 3” pots unless otherwise noted). When these quantities are gone, that’s it for this sale.
Additional California Native Plants will be sold at our normal/regular prices. More info: nativeplants.org |
Posted in Garden | Tags: Native Fern Sale
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 25, 2026
Poop From Young Mice Reverses Signs of Age-Related Decline in Older Mice
Science Alert reported
Supplementing the guts of older mice with poop from younger ones reveals the key role microbes play in intestinal stem cell function, recent research shows.
After receiving a fecal microbiota transplant from younger mice, one aspect of age-related decline in the guts of older mice was reversed, driven by increased intestinal stem cell activity that maintains the intestinal walls.
Read more at Poop From Young Mice Reverses Signs of Age-Related Decline in Older Mice
Posted in Animals | Tags: Mouse Poop
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 24, 2026
Asian Forests Grow Increasingly Silent as Gibbon Trafficking Hits an All-Time High
The Revelator reports
Traumatized, orphaned gibbon babies are stuffed into luggage and smuggled by air from southeast Asia to India.
For well over a year now, the Save the Gibbons Alliance, a group of small-ape conservationists and media professionals focused on protecting these long-armed primates from illegal trade, has been tracking a worrying problem. They’ve documented at least one gibbon-smuggling incident per month, either at a southeast Asian airport or an Indian one, each involving multiple gibbon babies or juveniles. News reports of these seizures in the local media are often accompanied by heartbreaking images of distressed or dead gibbon babies, stuffed into check-in or carry-on baggage.
Read more Asian Forests Grow Increasingly Silent as Gibbon Trafficking Hits an All-Time High
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 23, 2026
Threatened California species shuts down popular Point Reyes beach
SF Gate reported
Scientists found a snowy plover nest in the Point Reyes National Seashore on March 16, marking the earliest start to the breeding season recorded in the area.
Read on http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/snowy-plover-point-reyes-seashore-22272401.php
Posted in Birds, Park | Tags: Pt. Reyes, Snowy Plovers
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 23, 2026
Hundreds of Khulan return to Eastern Mongolia after 65-year absence
Monga Bay reported
The Asiatic wild ass, or khulan, is reestablishing itself in eastern Mongolia for the first time in more than six decades, according to a recent study. It found hundreds of these wide-roaming herbivores have successfully crossed through a gap along the perimeter of the otherwise fenced-off Trans-Mongolian Railway, a barrier that kept them restricted to the west of the tracks since the mid-20th-century.
Read more Hundreds of Khulan return to Eastern Mongolia after 65-year absence
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 22, 2026
Massive butterfly swarm becomes the talk of Santa Cruz
SF Gate reported
Exceptional. Magical. Healing. Santa Cruz area residents seemingly cannot stop posting positive adjectives about the unexpected wave of butterflies flooding their region.
On Mother’s Day, the thick blanket of orange and brown butterflies arrived in Shannon Robbins’ garden in Bonny Doon, a community in the Santa Cruz mountains devastated by the CZU Lightning Complex fires in 2020.
Read more at Massive butterfly swarm becomes the talk of Santa Cruz
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: California Tortoiseshell
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 22, 2026
San Francisco turns to AI to save whales from ship strikes as deaths soar
The Guardian reported
Climate change is pushing starving grey whales to San Francisco Bay, where ship strikes led to 40% of 21 deaths.
Until now, whales could easily go unnoticed by mariners, but an AI-powered detection network launched this week is designed to track them day and night.
The system, called WhaleSpotter, scans the bay around the clock for whale blows and heat signatures up to 2 nautical miles away, alerting mariners to slow down or reroute when whales are nearby.
Read more at San Francisco turns to AI to save whales from ship strikes as deaths soar
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Whale Deaths in San Francisco Bay, Whales
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 21, 2026
Upcoming Bay Nature Events
See the schedule of upcoming Bay Nature Events mailchi.mp/baynature/march-11
Posted in Talks, Walks & Hikes | Tags: Bay Nature Events
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 21, 2026
Los Padres ForestWatch Upcoming Events
See Upcoming Los Padres ForestWatch Upcoming Events at Home | Los Padres ForestWatch
Posted in Birds, Talks | Tags: Los Padres ForestWatch Upcoming Events
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 21, 2026
Tougher than they look: Wildflowers mix it up to survive drought
The Enterprise reported
Lupine and California golden poppies are already blooming everywhere. They’re more than beautiful, and tougher than they look: Wildflowers can teach us a lot about surviving drought.
A new study shows wildflowers employ a mixture of strategies, some intentionally risky and others cautiously conservative, both above-ground and below, to thrive in conditions that can vary widely from year to year. With climate change making drought more frequent and more severe, this work hones the ability of land managers to predict which plants will thrive in which ecosystems in the future.
Read more at Tougher than they look: Wildflowers mix it up to survive drought
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Drought Tolerant Wildflowers
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 20, 2026
Orchids in the Park 7/25 & 26
SF County Fair Building 1199 9th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94122
Join us for Orchids in the Park — the San Francisco Orchid Society’s beloved summer sale. Explore orchid displays, shop rare plants from top local and international vendors, attend hands-on workshops, and connect with fellow enthusiasts. A perfect outing for the whole family.
Weekend Pass: $10advance → $15 at door
Save $5 — buy advance before Jul 25
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 20, 2026
As U.S. national parks hike fees for international visitors, Canada is letting them in free
SF Gate reported
While the U.S. hits international visitors with additional fees to enter national parks this year, our neighbors to the north are trying a different approach: Canada’s national parks will be free to enter during the peak summer travel season.
The Canada Strong Pass, available to Canadians and international visitors, allows anyone to visit any of the country’s 48 national parks free of charge between June 19 and Sept. 7. The program also provides a 25% discount on camping fees, discounts for young adults at national museums and reduced fares on the cross-country VIA Rail.
Read more at As U.S. national parks hike fees for international visitors, Canada is letting them in free
Posted in Park | Tags: Canada waives national park fees
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 20, 2026
New Scientific Study Assesses State of Giant Sequoias, Reveals 18% Mortality of Mature Trees Due to Severe Wildfires
Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition reports
Only 26% of giant sequoia range shows high resistance to extreme wildfires; Roughly 13% of the range at risk of local extinction.A new scientific study from the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition (GSLC) reveals the current state of California’s giant sequoia range and quantifies the alarming extent of damage caused by extreme wildfires over the last decade. More than 17% of all mature giant sequoias have been killed by wildfire since 2015, while less than 1% perished in the 30 prior years. Most of the losses since 2015 occurred during the megafires of 2020 and 2021.
Read more at New Scientific Study Assesses State of Giant Sequoias, Reveals 18% Mortality of Mature Trees Due to Severe Wildfires
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Giant Sequois
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | May 19, 2026
Gray wolf enters Sequoia National Park for the first time in a century
SF Gate reported
The female wolf’s location has been tracked for hundreds of miles across California, and she remains in Sequoia National Park as of Tuesday.
Read on www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/gray-wolf-sequoia-22264959.php
Posted in Animals, Park | Tags: Gray Wolf enters Sequoia National Park
Natural History Wanderings 