The Guardian reported
Decision reversed lower court ruling that weakened zoning restrictions put in place decades ago to preserve lands
Read on www.theguardian.com/news/2025/oct/02/georgia-supreme-court-gullah-geechee-land-ruling
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | October 2, 2025
Georgia supreme court sides with Gullah Geechee residents fighting to protect land
Posted in Environment | Tags: Gullah Geechee
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | October 2, 2025
Eastern Sierra Photos: Rock Creek 7/10/25
Photographed along Rock Creek Road in the Eastern Sierra Nevada on July 10, 2025.
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | October 2, 2025
4th Annual Berkeley Bird Festival on Sunday, October 19!
Calling all nature lovers, bird nerds, and Bay Area residents!
It’s time to get your feathers, grow your wings, and prepare for your journey to The 4th Annual Berkeley Bird Festival on Sunday, October 19!
This theme for this year’s festival is “Safe Travels”!
As hundreds of thousands of birds migrate over the Bay Area at night, we celebrate their journey south and work to provide them safe passage. From Bird-Safe Window Demos to learning about Lights Out, we hope you’ll join us for this free community event to celebrate and keep our birds safe!
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Posted in Bird Festivals, Birds | Tags: Berkeley Birding Festival
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | October 2, 2025
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 | October 2, 2025
Wisconsin DNR steps up monitoring for invasive fish in Lake Winnebago
WPR reported
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is increasing monitoring in Lake Winnebago for invasive round gobies that can force out native bottom-dwelling fish.
In June, an angler caught a round goby in Lake Winnebago at the Bowen Street Fishing Pier in Oshkosh, the first known detection there. The invasive fish is about 3 to 6 inches long with bulging frog-like eyes and a fused fin on their bottom side that looks like a suction cup. They can outcompete bottom-dwelling fish and they’ve been known to gobble up eggs of walleye and bass.
Read more Wisconsin DNR steps up monitoring for invasive fish in Lake Winnebago – WPR
Posted in Animals | Tags: Invasive round gobies, Lake wWnnebago
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | October 2, 2025
Upcoming Classes at Regional Parks Botanic Garden
See the Upcoming Classes at Regional Parks Botanic Garden at Classes — Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden
Posted in Class/Workshop, Garden | Tags: East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden Classes
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | October 2, 2025
Two new species of bass fish discovered in a U.S. lake
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | October 1, 2025
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 | October 1, 2025
Seeking Lake Merritt Docents!
from Golden Gate Bird Alliance
We are currently looking for docents to greet and connect passers-by to birds and nature at Lake Merritt on Saturday mornings from mid-November to mid-February. The most important qualification is your enthusiasm. Training and resources are provided.
Interested? Contact Maureen Lahiff at mlahiff@aol.com or 510-484-6529.
Posted in Birds | Tags: Lake Merritt Docents
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | October 1, 2025
Government Shutdown: Golden Gate National Recreation Area Update
From Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
At the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, we know how deeply the Golden Gate National Recreation Area is woven into Bay Area life. These national parks are vital to our environment, our economy, and our sense of community.
Following the government shutdown Tuesday night, we’re working closely with our partners at the National Park Service to determine next steps.
What You Need to Know
- Some park sites will close and services will be limited, though National Park Service rangers remain on duty.
- The Presidio, the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center, and other park sites will stay open.
- Alcatraz will reopen Thursday after a previously planned seismic repair closure on Wednesday. Learn more about visiting the island.
- For the latest openings and closures, visit the Park Status Updates page, and check parksconservancy.org for more from the parks.
Posted in Park | Tags: Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | October 1, 2025
Fall guide to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Fall is a favorite season in the national parks of the Bay Area. See the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy Fall Guide to Bay Area National Parks at Fall guide to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area | Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Posted in Fall Foliage, Park
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | October 1, 2025
Eastern Sierra Photos: Bishop Creek
Photographed along Bishop Creek between Bishop and South Lake on July 9, 2025.
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | October 1, 2025
Tejon Conservancy Events
See the calendar of events for theTejon Conservancy at www.tejonconservancy.org/calendar
Posted in Walks & Hikes | Tags: Tejon Ranch Event
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | October 1, 2025
Greenland’s glacial runoff is powering explosions of ocean life
ScienceDaily reported
NASA-backed simulations reveal that meltwater from Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier lifts deep-ocean nutrients to the surface, sparking large summer blooms of phytoplankton that feed the Arctic food web.
Read more: Greenland’s glacial runoff is powering explosions of ocean life | ScienceDaily
Posted in Environment | Tags: Glacier Melt, Jakobshavn Glacier, Phytoplankton
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 30, 2025
Friends of California Condors Wild and Free Upcoming Events
Friends of California Condors Wild and Free Upcoming Events at Events | Friends of California Condors Wild and Free
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 30, 2025
What’s killing coyotes in San Francisco?
SF Gate reported
A study on San Francisco coyotes’ diets, using whisker samples and stable isotope analysis, revealed individual dietary preferences influenced by neighborhood availability. While the coyote population remains stable, vehicle strikes are the leading cause of death, exacerbated by the city’s geography and human-coyote interactions. The study also highlights the need for individual-level research to understand conflict-prone coyotes and the impact of human food sources on their behavior.
Read story at What’s killing coyotes in San Francisco?
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 30, 2025
2025 Bird Photographer of the Year – in pictures
The Guardian reported
An image of a magnificent frigatebird silhouetted against a total solar eclipse by Canadian photographer Liron Gertsman was chosen from more than 25,000 images as the grand prize-winner in 2025’s largest bird photography competition
See all of the winning photos at www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2025/oct/01/bird-photographer-of-year-2025-in-pictures
Posted in Birds, Photography | Tags: Bird Photographer of the Year
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 30, 2025
Photos from White Mountain
Photographed in the White Mountains and Great Basin on July 8, 2025 between 395 starting east of Big Pine and the Patriarch Grove on White Mountain.
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 30, 2025
Volunteer Opportunities at Tejon Ranch
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Tejon Ranch
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 30, 2025
How New Zealand wildlife sanctuaries are working to protect the country’s unique birds
NPR reported
New Zealand has some of the most unique birds in the world. Many are endangered, so the country has a nationwide project to save them. It’s trying to eradicate invasive animals that are harming them.
Posted in Animals | Tags: Wildlife Protection
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 29, 2025
Harbor porpoise spotted in Napa River, experts urge distance
Press Democrat reported
Local resident captures video of elusive harbor porpoise
Napans strolling along the river Sunday may have caught a rare sight — a harbor porpoise surfacing in the Oxbow. By Monday, the animal was still cruising the same stretch of water
Read more: Harbor porpoise spotted in Napa River, experts urge distance – The Press Democrat
Posted in Animals | Tags: Harbor Porpoise, Napa River
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 29, 2025
This flower smells like dying ants, and flies can’t resist it
ScienceDaily reported
Vincetoxicum nakaianum tricks flies into pollinating it by imitating the smell of ants attacked by spiders. Ko Mochizuki stumbled upon this finding when he noticed flies clustering around the flowers and later confirmed their unusual preference. The study reveals the first known case of ant odor mimicry in plants, expanding our understanding of how diverse floral deception can be.
— Read on www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/09/250925025308.htm
Posted in Animals, Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Vincetoxicum nakaianum
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 29, 2025
Channel Islands Restoration Events
See upcoming Channel Islands Restoration events at calendar
Posted in Park | Tags: Channel Islands Restoration Events
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 29, 2025
Regional Parks Botanic Garden Photos 9/28/25
Photographed in the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park in Berkeley, CA on September 28, 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.
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 29, 2025
Regional Parks Botanic Garden Native Plant Sale Oct. 4
Posted in Garden | Tags: Native Plant Sale
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 29, 2025
An ant that lays individuals from two distinct species.
Nature reported
Living organisms are assumed to produce same-species offspring. Here, we report a shift from this norm in Messor ibericus, an ant that lays individuals from two distinct species. In this life cycle, females must clone males of another species because they require their sperm to produce the worker caste.
Read article at One mother for two species via obligate cross-species cloning in ants | Nature
Posted in Animals | Tags: ants, Messor ibericus
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 28, 2025
Why roads are melting in America’s oldest national park
SF Gate reported
Hot water underneath the surface is melting asphalt in Yellowstone National Park.
Read story at : Why roads are melting in America’s oldest national park
Posted in Drives, Park | Tags: Yellowstone National Park
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 28, 2025
Eastern Sierra Photos from McGee Creek
Photos are from McGee Creek trails, road up to McGee Creek and nearby highway 395
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 28, 2025
Could desert lichen survive on other worlds?
EarthSky reported
Astrobiology is the study of life in our universe. The only life we currently know of resides on Earth. So scientists look at exoplanets – worlds around other stars – that might have similar conditions as Earth and, thus, be conducive to life. Many of the exoplanets we’ve discovered orbit stars with radiation stronger than that of our sun. But researchers at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno, Nevada, said on June 24, 2025, that stronger radiation might not be as much as a limiting factor as previously thought. The researchers found a desert lichen on Earth that can survive the punishing radiation formerly considered lethal.
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | September 27, 2025
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
Natural History Wanderings 