Annapolis, MD Patch reports
Maryland’s fall foliage colors will be delayed in 2019 because of above average temperatures in September, the Weather Channel says. When will peak colors arrive in Maryland?
Read more about when will fall come to Maryland and where to see fall colors at Fall Foliage Peak 2019 Delayed In Maryland By Warm Temperatures | Annapolis, MD Patch
Posted in Fall Foliage | Tags: Autumn Color, Autumn Foliage, Autumn leaf color, Fall Color, Fall Foliage, Maryland Fall Color
The Fresno Bee reported
An emu led California Highway Patrol officers in Madera on a brief pursuit along Highway 99 on Friday afternoon, but they managed to catch the big bird without injury.
Read full story at CHP nabs rogue emu along HIghway 99 near Madera, California | The Fresno Bee
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Emu
CNET reported Google celebrating botanist Ynes Mexía
She often risked life and limb to collect thousands of specimens, some of which had never been seen before.
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, Google dedicated its Doodle on Sunday to the Mexican-American botanist. It was on this date in 1925 that Mexía embarked on her first botanical expedition, traveling to Mexico with a group from Stanford University to collect rare botanical species. But the 55-year-old Mexía soon decided she could accomplish more on her own and abandoned the group to travel the country for two years.
Read more at Google Doodle celebrates tenacious Mexican-American botanist Ynes Mexía – CNET
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Botanist Ynes Mexía
Audubon reports
Each year, about a trillion cigarette filters end up as litter worldwide. From public beaches to remote hiking trails, the chemical-laden butts are thoughtlessly tossed just about everywhere—and become a real danger for birds.
Read article Disturbing Photo Shows a Black Skimmer Feeding a Cigarette Butt to Its Chick | Audubon
Posted in Birds | Tags: Birds, Cigarette Butts
New England Fall Foliage shows significant fall color in eastern Maine with most of the New England just starting. See map that is continuously updated at Live Fall Foliage.
Posted in Fall Foliage | Tags: Autumn Color, Autumn Foliage, Autumn leaf color, Fall Color, Fall Foliage, New England Fall Color
New York State’s picturesque fall foliage season has begun, with the first signs of spectacular autumn colors appearing. Observers from the Empire State Development Division of Tourism’s I LOVE NY program report changes in the Adirondacks, Catskills, Capital-Saratoga, Central New York, Greater Niagara, Hudson Valley, and Thousand Islands-Seaway regions.
See full report at Fall Foliage Report
Posted in Fall Foliage | Tags: Autumn Color, Autumn Foliage, Autumn leaf color, Fall Color, Fall Foliage, New York Fall Color
Audubon reports
Migrating songbirds can get caught in the memorial’s beams of light. Here’s how NYC Audubon gets them out.
Two blue beams of light will shine upward from lower Manhattan tonight, an annual “Tribute in Light” to commemorate the September 11 terrorism attacks. Standing right beneath the beams will be New York City Audubon volunteers—on hand to save the birds trapped in the lights’ ambit.
For reasons still unknown to science, artificial light attracts birds, from fledgling seabirds to migrating songbirds (it does the same to moths). Once captivated, disoriented birds may crash into windows, or spend hours circling.
Read more at Making the 9/11 Memorial Lights Bird-Safe | Audubon
Posted in Birds, Uncategorized | Tags: 9/11 Memorial, Birds and LIghts
See photos of wildflowers still in bloom in the Shasta/Lassen region at (1) California Wildflower Report – Home
National Geographic reports
A super-Earth about 111 light-years away is “the best candidate for habitability that we know right now,” astronomers say.
In a first for astronomers studying worlds beyond our solar system, data from the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed water vapor in the atmosphere of an Earth-size planet. Although this exoplanet orbits a star that is smaller than our sun, it falls within what’s known as the star’s habitable zone, the range of orbital distances where it would be warm enough for liquid water to exist on a planet’s surface.
Read full story at Water found on a potentially life-friendly alien planet
Posted in Astronomy, Uncategorized
The Guardian reports
Research shows a trillion trees could be planted to capture huge amount of carbon dioxide.
Planting billions of trees across the world is by far the biggest and cheapest way to tackle the climate crisis, according to scientists, who have made the first calculation of how many more trees could be planted without encroaching on crop land or urban areas.
Readfull story at Tree planting ‘has mind-blowing potential’ to tackle climate crisis – The Guardian
Posted in Environment | Tags: How Tree Impact Climate Change
Fall Colors in Mono County – Mono County Tourism
September 10, 2019: believe it or not, fall is officially under way in Mono County! It was 24 degrees in Bridgeport this morning and the first few yellow and orange leaves have been spotted in the upper elevations of Rock Creek, Sagehen Summit and Virginia Lakes. All three of these locations are just getting going with almost exclusivly green and lime green leaves, the Guide:
0-10% – Just Starting
10-50% – Patchy
50-75% – Near Peak (Go Now!)
75-100% – Peaking (GO NOW!)
Past Peak – (You Missed It)
WALKER / COLEVILLE / TOPAZ
Monitor Pass (8,314′) – 0%
Lobdell Lake Road (8,600′) – 0%
Walker Canyon (5,200′) – 0%
Walker, Coleville and Topaz – 0%
Sonora Pass (9,623′) – Past Peak – 0%
ScienceDaily reports
By analysing 138 experiments, researchers have mapped the potential of today’s plants and trees to store extra carbon by the end of the century.
The results show trees and plants could remove six years of current emissions by 2100, but only if no further deforestation occurs.
Read full story at Plants could remove six years of carbon dioxide emissions — if we protect them — ScienceDaily
Posted in Environment | Tags: Preserving Plants to Remove Carbon
Saguaro National Park has a posting showing photos of wildflowers that are blooming at high elevation at (2) Saguaro National Park – Home
Audubon reports
September 3 ,2019
With a California Senate vote of 29-9, a bill strengthening the state’s protections for migratory birds beyond those specified under federal law today cleared the California Legislature. Assembly Bill 454 clarifies existing state safeguards for native birds and closes loopholes where California law defers to federal statutes, seriously weakened by the White House. The bill was authored by Assembly Member Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) and sponsored by the National Audubon Society.
Read full article at Audubon-Sponsored Bill Protecting California’s Birds Clears State Senate | Audubon California
Posted in Animals | Tags: California Bill Protects birds
NPR recently did a report on Naked Mole Rats: Naked And Unafraid: 6 Wild Facts About Naked Mole Rats
Naked mole rats don’t look like they’d be one of nature’s superstars. They’re about the size and shape of small sweet potatoes. These rodents are native to the grasslands of East Africa, and are mostly hairless, wrinkled, and blind. And yet, they’ve evolved some special behaviors and features that help them thrive in harsh environments in which other mammals (humans included) would wither.
When they were new to science, in the 1970’s, researchers studied them for their unusual behavior and social structure. In the past two decades or so, scientists have been looking into their super survival traits — long life spans and apparent lack of aging — for lessons on how humans can stay healthy and live longer.
Read story at What Can Naked Mole Rats Teach Researchers About Longevity And Resilience? : Shots – Health News : NPR
Posted in Animals | Tags: Naked Mole Rats
EarthSky reports
In the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory’s monthly update in early September, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced that Steamboat geyser – one of Yellowstone’s famous geysers, often said to be Earth’s tallest geyser – had broken its own yearly eruption record. USGS said:
August 2019 was another record-setting month for Steamboat geyser, which experienced water eruptions on August 12, 20, and 27. The August 27 eruption was the 33rd of 2019, breaking the record for eruptions in a calendar year that was set in 2018.
Read full story at Yellowstone’s Steamboat geyser breaks record | Earth | EarthSky
Posted in Park | Tags: Steamboat Geyser, Yellowstone Geyser Record, Yellowstone National Park
ScienceDaily reports
Researchers have discovered that the numbers of plant species recorded by botanists have increased in locations where the climate has changed most rapidly, and especially in relatively cold parts of the world.
Read full story at Climate change ‘disrupts’ local plant diversity, study reveals — ScienceDaily
Posted in Environment | Tags: Climate Change and Plant Diversity
The re-opening follows completion of improvements on the 1.5-mile trail between Bumpass Hell parking area and Bumpass Hell basin. The resulting trail is wider, smoother, and better designed to withstand erosion.
Hikers will see continuing rehabilitation efforts along the trail and within the basin. This includes restoration of an alternative 0.2-mile basin access trail and overlook enhancement. The second basin trail will remain closed until construction is complete and access to overlooks may be limited.
To ensure the safety of both staff and visitors, the Bumpass Hell Trail is closed for rehabilitation. Please note the following:
Start: Bumpass Hell parking area Round Trip Distance: 3 miles Round Trip Time: 2 hours
Terrain: easy 300 foot descent Elevation: 8000 feet
Posted in Park | Tags: Bumpass Hell Trail Reopening
The New York Times reports
The state’s beloved sea mammals have been plagued by the deadly Toxoplasma parasite. They’re catching it from feral and pet cats.
Read story at What’s Killing California’s Sea Otters? House Cats – New York Times
Posted in Animals | Tags: California Sea Otters
Our Community Now reports
2019 should be a prime year for colorful fall foliage, especially in higher elevations, in large part due to the very wet spring Colorado had this year combined with hotter temps in recent months. The southwest part of the state may see areas where trees have dropped leaves early, due to fungal leaf spotting caused by all the extra moisture last spring, though the show is still expected to be spectacular.
Read full article at Colorful Colorado: Autumn Foliage in Colorado Expected to be Impressive This Year
Posted in Fall Foliage | Tags: Autumn Color, Autumn Foliage, Autumn leaf color, Colorado Fall Color, Fall Color, Fall Foliage
Homestead Valley has a new wildflower update. See photos Homestead Valley September 5
NEW
– Coast piperia, a white and green orchid, is blooming beside the Eagle Trail below 6b.
Forests
– Hellebore*, an orchid native to Eurasia is blooming now in forests with stalks of greenish purple flowers.
– Roughleaf aster is blooming in forests.
– Toyon, this tree or large shrub is blooming with white clusters throughout the valley.
– White hawkweed blooms at the end of long stalks with white flowers.
Forest edges
– Common California aster blooms with purple ray flowers on tall stalks.
– Latin American fleabane*, native of Central America, has colonized a small area below Amaranth.
California Fall Color reports
Passing Martis Creek Meadow (CA 267 between Northstar and Brockway Summit) on the Labor Day weekend, quaking aspen along the edges of the grove appeared to be approaching peak.
However, on closer inspection, these aspen are blighted. The yellow and orange seen above is not fall color change. It’s aspen blight.
Martis Creek Meadow (6,500’), Just Starting (0-10%) – A third of the trees are blighted, have turned brown or dropped leaves. Willows near the creek are glowing yellow-orange and near peak. As yet, no significant color change can be seen in the Sierra, though occasional spots of yellow color are beginning to appear.
See full article and photos at California Fall Color – Dude, autumn happens here too.
Posted in Fall Foliage | Tags: Autumn Color, Autumn Foliage, Autumn leaf color, California Fall Color, Fall Color, Fall Foliage
University of Utah News Release
Despite growing evidence that artificial light at night severely impacts wildlife, human health, wasteful spending and a disconnect to our cultural past, there are no formal academic educational programs strictly for dark sky study and protection. The University of Utah is changing that.
This week, the U launched the first issue of The Journal of Dark Sky Studies (JDSS), the only academic publication in the world dedicated to understanding and protecting the night skies. The U-based Consortium for Dark Sky Studies created the transdisciplinary journal to share art, basic science and conservation stories from the dark sky movement. The launch coincides with the start of a class focusing on dark sky studies. The curriculum will culminate in a capstone project during which students will follow a dark sky problem from end to end, beginning with basic research and finishing with policy implementation. Each capstone cohort will report their findings in the JDSS.
Posted in Astronomy | Tags: JOURNAL OF DARK SKY STUDIES
See photos for a Pt Reyes Hostel/Coast Trail ramble at (1) Marin Native Plants
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: California Wildflowers, Pt. Reyes Wildflowers, Wildflower Bloom Reports
Boston.com reports
What experts are saying about the 2019 fall foliage season in New England “I’d say all the precursor conditions are in place—we expect another fabulous fall foliage season.”
“If everything were to continue more typical, we’d see a longer season than last year, we’d see a more vibrant season than last year, and it would come on a little earlier than last year, which was so late,”
Read article at What experts are saying about the 2019 fall foliage season in New England | Boston.com
The LA Times reports
California has enacted a new ban on fur trapping for animal pelts, making it the first state to outlaw a centuries-old livelihood that was intertwined with the rise of the Western frontier.
The Wildlife Protection Act of 2019, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday, prohibits commercial or recreational trapping on both public and private lands.
Read more: California becomes first state to ban fur trapping after Gov. Newsom signs law
Posted in Animals | Tags: California Fur Trapping Ban
TOUR REGISTRATION FOR THE 2019 LODI SANDHILL CRANE FESTIVAL IS NOW OPEN!
Below is a list of all Festival tours. This page may be printed for your reference. You may also download a Tour Schedule. Tour spaces are limited. It is advised that you register early as tours fill up quickly.
You may register for a nature tour in advance either online, by phone at 800-581-6150, or by downloading the Registration form and mailing it with your payment to:
Lodi Sandhill Crane Festival Association
PO Box 1616
Lodi, CA 95241
Hutchins Street Square · Lodi, CA
For more information contact us at (800) 581-6150 or email info@cranefestival.com.
All tours start and end at Hutchins Street Square (125 S. Hutchins Street, Lodi), at the north entrance, off Oak Street.
Read more about the festival and see the tour descriptions and schedule at Sandhill Crane Festival – Tour Descriptions and Schedule
Posted in Birding Reports, Birds, Uncategorized | Tags: Birding Festivals, Sandhill Crane Festival November
Center for Biological Diversity New Release
Giraffes, Otters, Sharks, Others Get Crucial Trade Protections; Ivory, Rhino Bans Retained
August 28, 2019
GENEVA— As the 18th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) wraps up in Geneva today, nations confirmed new protections for dozens of endangered wildlife species. The CITES treaty regulates the trade in imperiled animals and plants — the second biggest threat to species’ survival after habitat loss.
African animals did well. Giraffes received protections for the first time, as parties to the treaty voted to control trade in live and dead giraffes and their bones and skins by requiring permits and sustainability findings. Proposals to open trade in both elephant ivory and rhino horn were firmly rejected, reflecting a worldwide outcry against the ugly trade.
Posted in Animals | Tags: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, World Wildlife
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy has an article on hawk watching, counting, volunteering and photos for Hawk Hill. Read article and see the Hawk photos at Raptors up close! Best photos from Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands | Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Posted in Birds | Tags: Hawk Hill, Hawk Photos
See an album of plants in bloom in Highway 4 area (the Ebbetts Pass highway) with excursions to Lake Alpine, Calaveras Big Trees, and Murphys, at https://www.facebook.com/gosner/media_set…
Natural History Wanderings 