Anza-Borrego Foundation hosts a variety of events and educational programs, including hikes, botany walks, photography workshops, and more. See the schedule at Events | Anza-Borrego Foundation
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 14, 2026
Anza-Borrego Foundation Upcoming Events
Posted in Talks, Walks & Hikes | Tags: Anza-Borrego Foundation Events
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 14, 2026
Mexico in bloom: 5 wildflowers to look for
MND contributor Bel Woodhouse takes us on a tour of Mexico’s spectacular wildflowers, from vibrant sunflowers and cosmos to delicate poppies.
— Read on mexiconewsdaily.com/lifestyle/mexico-wildflower-season/
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Wildflowers of Mexico
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 14, 2026
Ocotopus Tool Use
SpaceDaily reported
The eight-armed engineers of the ocean floor may be more clever than we thought—this one just invented mobile shelter.
An octopus was filmed carrying two halves of a coconut shell across the seafloor to reassemble themlater as a portable suit of armour, one of the only clear cases of a wild invertebrate using tools.
Read more at Octopus Tool Use
Posted in Animals | Tags: Ocotopus Tool Use
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 13, 2026
White Storks Make Historic Return to the English Midlands After 600-year Absence
Good News Network reported
The storks have now arrived as part of an effort to establish a healthy, wild, breeding colony on the River Trent.
Read on www.goodnewsnetwork.org/white-storks-make-historic-return-to-the-english-midlands-after-600-year-absence/
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 12, 2026
All hail the horsetail, a plant that could survive anything
The Guardian reported
It looks like a toilet brush yet predates the dinosaurs. I can’t help but give it a stroke by the roadside, even if I get strange looks.
Equisetum arvense, or field horsetail, looks fluffy, but it is wiry and rough. One could serve effectively as a toilet brush. The bristles are rich in abrasive silicon, which gives the texture of sandpaper. This explains another of equisetum’s common names, scouring rush, from when it was used to clean wood and polish metal. If you are careful, a hollow jointed stem can be separated at its junction and then rejoined like children’s tubular pipes for building, slotting back in a satisfying way.
Read more at All hail the horsetail, a plant that could survive anything
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Equisetum arvense, Horsetails
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 11, 2026
Trump Admin Reportedly Nixes $25 Million in National Park Projects
Yahoo News reported
The Trump administration has reportedly rejected more than 130 planned projects at national parks, putting at least $25M in previously secured funding on hold.
Read on www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-admin-reportedly-nixes-25-231505017.html
Posted in Park | Tags: National Parks Funding Cuts
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 11, 2026
Pacific gray whales facing ‘catastrophic’ die-off as climate crisis hits food supply
The Guardian reported
Climate change is driving a gray whale “catastrophic mortality event” in the Pacific Ocean as melting sea ice depletes food sources and the animals starve, environmental groups warn.
Read more at Pacific gray whales facing ‘catastrophic’ die-off as climate crisis hits food supply
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 10, 2026
California confirms rare sighting of gray wolf in Mendocino national forest
The Guardian reported
Officials say sighting a sign species – driven to extinction in state before reintroduction in 2011 – expanding its range
A gray wolf has recently been seen in California’s Mendocino national forest for the first time since the species returned to the state 15 years ago, state wildlife officials confirmed.
Officials in Lake county, which is about two hours north of San Francisco, said last week the California department of fish and wildlife (CDFW) had received reports of sightings in the forest in late August. The agency verified the presence of a wolf in the far north end of the county, county supervisor Brad Rasmussen said in a statement on social media.
Read more California confirms rare sighting of gray wolf in Mendocino national forest
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 10, 2026
The Many Faces of iNaturalist
Bay Nature reported on the difference and some of the history of iNaturalist and Seek
Once a Berkeley student project, iNaturalist is a social network—and a scientific database. Now, the public departure of its cofounder highlights the challenge of balancing the two.
Read more at The Many Faces of iNaturalist
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 9, 2026
Sonoma Land Trust Events
Check out the latest events and news for Sonoma Land Trust at OUTINGS & EVENTS
Posted in Talks, Walks & Hikes
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 9, 2026
Photos of Regional Parks Botanic Garden 9/7/26
Photographed in the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park in Berkeley, CA on September 7, 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 | September 9, 2026
Introducing the Plants for Monarchs Tool
from Xerces Society
| The Xerces Society’s new Plants for Monarchs allows anyone to generate a list of native host and nectar plants that support monarch butterflies where they live. Use the filters to match your preferences and site conditions, and create a shopping list with your local and online plant suppliers. Learn more |
Posted in Butterflies, Garden, Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Plants for Monarchs
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 8, 2026
SANDHILL CRANE FESTIVAL TOUR REGISTRATION OPENS September 8, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Lodi Sandhill Crane Festival November 6-8, 2026
The 28th Lodi Sandhill Crane Festival will feature a full weekend of festivities, with guided crane tours offered throughout the event.
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Posted in Bird Festivals, Birds | Tags: Lodi Sandhill Crane Festival
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 8, 2026
Amazing Turtle Journey
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 7, 2026
Upcoming UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Events
See the events calendar for the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden at Garden Events
Posted in Class/Workshop, Garden | Tags: UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Events
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 7, 2026
Photos of Regional Parks Botanic Garden 9/5/26
Photographed in the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park in Berkeley, CA on September 5, 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 | September 7, 2026
There’s One Creature of The Deep That Can Scare Even Orcas Away
Science Alert reported
Then scientists discovered that these fearsome predators had a nemesis of their own: the mighty orca (Orcinus orca), sleek and cunning, hunting white sharks for their tender, nutrient-rich livers.
Just the hint of a squeal from a pod of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) can send orcas packing.
Read more and see video of Pilot Whales chasing Orrcas at There’s One Creature of The Deep That Can Scare Even Orcas Away
Posted in Animals | Tags: Orcas, Pilot Whales
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 6, 2026
Tejon Ranch Upcoming Events
See All Upcoming Tejon Ranch Events at Events
Posted in Walks & Hikes | Tags: Tejon Ranch activities
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 6, 2026
Plants may be evolving the wrong traits for a warming world | ScienceDaily
ScienceDaily reported
Morning glories may be getting caught in an evolutionary tug-of-war between surviving climate change and attracting increasingly scarce pollinators. Over just nine years, researchers found that the plants’ rate of adaptation plunged by 96%, even though they still had plenty of genetic diversity to evolve.
Read on www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260901010719.htm
Posted in Class/Workshop, Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Plant Adaptation
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 6, 2026
Unbelievable Record Dive by Beaked Whale
Space Daily reported
In 2020 scientists tracking a beaked whale logged a dive that seemed physically impossible: 3 hours and 42 minutes underwater on a single lungful of air, by far the longest dive ever recorded in any mammal on Earth.
The whale’s body plan suggests it should suffocate within half an hour, yet it vanishes into the deep for nearly four hours—a biological contradiction that challenges everything we thought we knew about mammalian limits.
Read more at Record Dive
Posted in Animals | Tags: Beaked Whales
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 5, 2026
Trump signs order to remove endangered species status for grey wolves
The BBC reported
The US president says the move will help ranchers, but conservationists say it could derail efforts to recover populations.
Posted in Animals | Tags: Loss Wolf Protections
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 5, 2026
Trump Administration Moves to Drop Protections for More Wetlands
10bmnes reported
The Trump administration on Friday took another step toward stripping federal protections from millions of acres of wetlands, which help filter drinking water for many communities and provide critical habitat for birds, fish and other wildlife.
The proposed rule from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would significantly narrow the definition of “waters of the United States,” or WOTUS, that are protected from harmful pollution under the Clean Water Act of 1972.
The new version is more sweeping than an initial proposal released in November, which would have removed federal protections from fewer wetlands nationwide. The plan would deliver a victory to farmers, ranchers and rural landowners who have chaffed at the protections, calling them an infringement on their property rights.
Read more at Trump Administration Moves to Drop Protections for More Wetlands
Trump Administration Moves to Drop Protections for More Wetlands
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 5, 2026
Butterflies Around the World Are Moving to New Habitats, Largely Because of Climate Change, a Study Suggests
Smithsonian Magazine reported
Researchers examined data on 1,758 butterfly species—about ten percent of all those known—from 105 countries and estimated that about one in ten global species has shifted its distribution range.
Read more at Butterflies Around the World Are Moving to New Habitats, Largely Because of Climate Change, a Study Suggests
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: Butterfly Habitats, Climate change
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 4, 2026
Trees straighten themselves using a system that works like muscles
Earth.com reported
New research reveals a hidden sensorimotor system inside trees that controls tension wood and helps them maintain an upright posture.
Read on www.earth.com/plants/trees-straighten-themselves-using-a-system-that-works-like-muscles/
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: How trees grow straight
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 4, 2026
Earth set to exceed global warming threshold, UN report warns. What happens now?
NBC Bay Area reported
In a strategic retreat in the fight against climate change, the United Nations has acknowledged that Earth has lost its chance to prevent some of the worst of global warming’s harms. So now the world must figure out how to get temperatures below the danger zone and back to safety, officials say.
Read more Earth set to exceed global warming threshold, UN report warns. What happens now?
Posted in Environment | Tags: Climate change
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 4, 2026
High-Elevation Discovery Raises New Questions About Which California Trees Will Survive Climate Change
The Revelator reported
Birds may have been burying Jeffrey pine seeds up high for thousands of years. But now that they’re sprouting, this new species of subalpine tree may change the playing field.
Posted in Environment, Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Jeffrey Pines
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 3, 2026
Upcoming CNPS Events
See the calendar of upcoming events of the California Native Plants Society at https://www.cnps.org/events
Posted in Talks | Tags: Upcoming CNPS Events
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 3, 2026
Rare, tentacled sea creature spotted in California waters
SF Gate reported
For the first time, researchers have spotted a rare, deep-sea squid alive off the California coast.
During an August ocean expedition south of Monterey, researchers found a bigfin squid — with the scientific name Magnapinna sp. — undulating about 2 miles underwater.
Read more and see photos at Rare, tentacled sea creature spotted in California waters
Posted in Animals | Tags: Bigfin squid, Magnapinna sp
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 3, 2026
Scientists believe newly discovered demon cavefish may be among the rarest fish in the world
CNN reported
Bobcat Cave near Huntsville is home to the endangered Alabama cave shrimp, two species of cave crayfish and the southern cavefish. Those were all Dr. Matthew Niemiller expected to find when he set out to survey the cave system last year.
Instead, he discovered a bizarre-looking fish, previously unknown to science. Niemiller said he believes this fish may be among the rarest in the world.
Read more at Scientists believe newly discovered demon cavefish may be among the rarest fish in the world
Posted in Animals | Tags: Demon Cavefish
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 2, 2026
Upcoming Events at East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden
See upcoming events at East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden at events.
Posted in Garden, Park, Talks, Walks & Hikes | Tags: East Bay Regional Parks Upcoming Activities
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