BBC Science Focus Magazine reported
Killer whales have a grisly new technique for hunting juvenile great white sharks – and scientists caught it on camera
See video and read more at : Killer whales have now learnt a genius way to destroy great white sharks, new footage shows | BBC Science Focus Magazine
Posted in Animals | Tags: Great White Sharks, Killer Whales
The BBC reported
A new study of the bizarre naked mole rat shows that the animals have evolved a DNA repair mechanism that could explain their longevity.
Read article at Naked mole rats reveal genetic secret to long life
Posted in Animals
See the calendar of upcoming events for the East Bay Regional Parks at https://www.ebparks.org/calendar
Posted in Park, Walks & Hikes | Tags: East Bay Regional Parks
From Santa Barbara Maritime Museum
Night Lizard Brewing Co. | FREE
Make a splash at SBMM’s Whale Trivia Night at Night Lizard Brewing Company in downtown Santa Barbara—celebrating the Santa Barbara Whale Heritage Area with a limited-release “whale” brew, prizes for top teams, and ocean-smart bragging rights. Bring your crew (or join a pod on arrival), test your cetacean savvy, and leave with fin-tastic facts—and maybe some swag, too.
Night Lizard Brewing Company, 607 State St.
Prizes + giveaways
Craft beer available for purchase ($1 of every pint sold will support SBMM)
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Santa Barbara Maritime Museum
787,401 sq. ft. of invasive species removed (nearly 14 football fields!)
13,100 sq. ft. of fire buffer zone created
9,695 native plants and trees planted
532 ft. of fence repaired
160 bags of trash and recycling collected
2.94 miles of trail restoredPosted in Park | Tags: National Park Foundation
The Guardian reported
In Finland, kindergartens are exposing children to more mud, wild plants and moss – and finding changes to their health that show how crucial biodiversity is to wellbeing
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Health Benefits of Nature
SF Gate reported
Rocky Mountain National Park is trying to bring beavers back to its Kawuneeche Valley.
Most likely Elk and Moose are the problem.
Read on www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/rocky-mountain-national-park-wants-beavers-back-21118420.php
UC Davis reported
Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have discovered a new species of trapdoor spider lurking in California’s coastal sand dunes. The newly identified Aptostichus ramirezae is a close relative of Aptostichus simus, a species found along the coast from Monterey to Baja California, Mexico.
Read more New Species of Trapdoor Spider Discovered In California | UC Davis
Posted in Animals | Tags: New Species, Trapdoor Spider
UC Davis reported
When Parental Care is Limited, Siblings and Others Step Up
Read on www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/these-songbirds-learn-more-siblings-parents
Posted in Birds | Tags: Bird Behavior
NBC Bay Area reported
As the government shutdown drags on, leaving thousands of National Park workers on furlough, Yosemite National Park remains a place both to escape politics and witness its impact.
The park remains open, its spectacular vistas oblivious to the bickering of Congress, yet the impact of the extended shutdown is being felt both in the seen and unseen.
Visitors will notice the evidence as soon as they hit the park gates, which are open to traffic but unstaffed by National Park rangers, who in addition to collecting fees also give out information and maps.
Read more: How government shutdown is impacting Yosemite National Park – NBC Bay Area
Posted in Park | Tags: Impact of Government Shutdown on National Parks, Yosemite National Park
from Anza-Borrego Foundation
One of the most meaningful milestones of the year for Anza-Borrego Foundation was the acquisition of the 40-acre Glorietta Canyon property—a long-awaited conservation victory nearly two decades in the making.For years, the fate of this land hung in the balance. Decades ago, half of the parcel was scraped without a permit, stripping native vegetation and damaging fragile desert habitat. The community has watched and hoped ever since, envisioning a day when the land could be protected, restored, and given a chance to heal.
Read more A Victory for the Desert: Protecting Glorietta Canyon – Anza-Borrego Foundation
Posted in Desert | Tags: Glorietta Canyon
Photos from the UC- Berkeley Botanical Garden taken on November 2, 2025.
Posted in Garden, Photos (Sandy's) | Tags: UC Berkeley Botancial Garden
For decades, young trees struggled to grow in Yellowstone National Park. But thanks to the reintroduction of gray wolves in 1995, a new generation of quaking aspens is finally making its way into the forest canopy — a milestone unseen in the northern Yellowstone range for nearly 80 years.
The story of Yellowstone’s forests is a testament to how apex predators can shape entire ecosystems. After disappearing in 1930 due to habitat loss, hunting, and government eradication programs, gray wolves left behind a park dominated by elk. With populations reaching roughly 18,000, these herbivores devoured shrubs, leaves, and even the bark of young trees like the quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), preventing new growth from establishing.
Read more Yellowstone wolves make a comeback, sparking aspen growth not seen in 80 years – Philaplace
Posted in Animals, Park | Tags: Quaking Aspens, Woves, Yelllowstone
The Guardian reported
New Zealand’s oceans are warming 34% faster than the global average, with NZ$180bn (US$104bn) worth of housing at risk of flooding, a new report about the nation’s marine environment has revealed.
Posted in Environment | Tags: Climate change, Ocean warming
On Halloween I went birding at Elsie Roemer. Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary is at the east end of Marsh Beach in the town of Alameda. It harbors aquatic birds and other salt marsh creatures. It was as the high tide was going out. There were very large numbers of shorebirds, which is what makes this one of the Bay Area’s top shorebird areas.
Posted in Birding Reports, Birds, Photos (Sandy's) | Tags: Bird Reports, Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary
SF Gate reported
The deal is the largest of its kind in the region’s history.
Tule elk are once again roaming the Sierra Nevada foothills southwest of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks after a historic land return that Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling the largest of its kind in the region’s history.
The 17,030 acres made up of two former ranch properties were recently returned to the Tule River Indian Tribe, the California Natural Resources Agency announced on Wednesday. The tribe’s ancestral lands straddle the foothills of present-day Tulare County.
Read more at 17,000 acres in Sierra foothills are returned to California tribe
Posted in Animals | Tags: Tule elk, Tule River Indian Tribe
The Guardian reported
Forest is ‘remarkably resilient to climate change’, but remains under threat from fires and deforestation
Read more: Big trees in Amazon more climate-resistant than previously believed | Climate crisis | The Guardian
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants
From East Bay Regional Park District
South Park Drive in Tilden Regional Park will be closed to cars from Nov. 1 to Mar. 31 to protect migrating and breeding newts! Visitors are welcome to walk and bike along the road — it’s a beautiful, peaceful time to explore.
Dog Owners—Keep dogs away from the newts (they’re adorable but poisonous to pets).
Ride slowly and give our amphibian friends the right of way.
www.ebparks.org/newts
Posted in Drives, Park | Tags: South Park Drive, Tilden Regional Park
Earth.com reported
Humans often consider tool use a mark of intelligence. Yet many animals find creative ways to solve problems. A new study reveals how carrion crows – which seldom use tools in the wild – can learn to master them when trained.
Their performance suggests that with only small evolutionary changes, they might one day adopt tools as part of their natural behavior.
Read on www.earth.com/news/carrion-crows-can-create-prepare-and-use-tools-with-great-precision/
Posted in Birds | Tags: Carrion Crows
SF Gate reported
The Center for Biological Diversity is suing the Donald Trump administration over its refusal to address the declining marmot population near Olympic National Park.
The national nonprofit first petitioned to protect the Olympic marmot — a rare, endemic species found only throughout the Olympic Peninsula — under the Endangered Species Act in May 2024. The lawsuit filed Wednesday against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is based on a mandatory deadline in the Endangered Species Act that requires the agency to investigate the declining population.
Read more : Trump admin faces lawsuit over one of Washington’s rarest animals
Posted in Animals | Tags: Alpine Marmot
Sales are held at the Garden potting shed on Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, and on the first Saturday of every month, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Enter the Garden through the West gate on Anza View Road.
Current inventory is available on the Garden website.
For more information on the garden go to Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden
Posted in Garden | Tags: Regional Parks Botanic Garden Plant Sales
Monga Bay reported
In a spot outside Berlin that’s usually a paradise for birdwatchers, volunteers have recovered nearly 2,000 dead cranes in recent days as bird flu has hit the migrating birds hard. Linum, a small village about an hour’s travel from the German capital, is a popular resting spot for thousands of cranes as they migrate between the Baltic and Nordic regions and southern Europe. But this month, many of the birds’ journeys have ended in the ponds and fields that surround it. The deaths come as bird flu has flared up early in Germany this year.
Source: Bird flu hits migrating cranes hard in Germany as the virus flares up
The Guardian reported
The insects’ brilliant hues evolved in lush ecosystems to help them survive. Now they are becoming more muted to adapt to degraded landscapes – and they are not the only things dulling down
Read more As forests are cut down, butterflies are losing their colours | Butterflies | The Guardian
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: Butterfly Color
SF Gate reported
As the government shutdown drags on for its 24th day, hundreds of former National Park Service employees are urging the Donald Trump administration to protect parks by closing them.
Read more Former park leaders demand Trump admin close national parks
Posted in Park | Tags: Government shutdown, National Parks
Photographed in the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park in Berkeley, CA on October 27 2025.
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.
See all Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy Upcoming Events at see all upcoming events
Posted in Park | Tags: Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy Events
from the Regional Parks Botanic Garden
Join us November through March for our popular Wayne Roderick Lecture series of free public lectures, on a broad array of topics related to plants and natural history. Named in honor of its founder, the Wayne Roderick Lecture Series takes place on Saturday mornings starting at 10:30 AM and begin at the Garden’s Visitor Center.
The First Two Lectures are:
Botanical and Horticultural Potpourri: What’s Occupied My Mind This Past Year
Bart O’Brien, Director of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden, opens the 2025-6 Wayne Roderick lecture series. View Event →
Milkweeds of the United States
— Read on nativeplants.org/events-and-classes/wayne-roderick-lectures/
Posted in Garden, Talks | Tags: Wayne Roderick Lectures
The Tico Times reported
Scientists have identified a new salamander species in the remote páramo of Chirripó National Park, highlighting our country’s rich biodiversity and the pressing challenges facing high-altitude ecosystems. Named Bolitoglossa chirripoensis, this medium-sized amphibian stands out with its dark body marked by golden spots on the back and white flecks along its sides and tail.
Read moe Scientists Identify New Salamander in Costa Rica’s Highest Peak Ecosystem
Posted in Animals | Tags: Bolitoglossa chirripoensi, New Salamander, New Species
ScienceDaily reported
Fungi may have shaped Earth’s landscapes long before plants appeared. By combining rare gene transfers with fossil evidence, researchers have traced fungal origins back nearly a billion years earlier than expected. These ancient fungi may have partnered with algae, recycling nutrients, breaking down rock, and creating primitive soils. Far from being silent background players, fungi were ecosystem engineers that prepared Earth’s surface for plants, fundamentally altering the course of life’s history.
Read on www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/10/251001092208.htm
Posted in Mushrooms | Tags: History early fungi
Natural History Wanderings 