Two Job Openings with the California Native Plant Society (CNPS)The Director of Plant Science will be involved in some of the most exciting work going on anywhere, leading a great team that is accomplishing big things.
The Publications Editor will get to share all the inspiring success stories coming out of the work we are all doing together.Job descriptions are available at https://www.cnps.org/about/jobs
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 26, 2019
Two Job Openings at the California Native Plant Society (CNPS)
Posted in Garden, Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: CNPS Job Openings
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 25, 2019
Automakers, Rejecting Trump Pollution Rule, Strike a Deal With California
The New York Times reports
Four of the world’s largest automakers, including the Ford Motor Company, have struck a deal with California to reduce tailpipe pollution, in a blow to the Trump administration as it prepares to roll back national vehicle pollution standards and revoke states’ rights to set their own such rules.
Read article at Automakers, Rejecting Trump Pollution Rule, Strike a Deal With California
Posted in Environment | Tags: California Auto Pollution Rules, Climate change, Global warming
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 25, 2019
Wildflower Reports Around California 7/24/19
Marin CNPS has a new post with photos for Tomales State Park
California Wildflower Tipline has new photos from Mount Harkness – Lassen National Park and Huntington Lake.
Botanical Wanderings-California has photos for Clover Springs Preserve in Cloverdale in Sonoma County
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 25, 2019
Your Hummus Habit Could Be Good For The Earth
NPR’s column “The Salt” reports
Hummus is having a heyday with American consumers, and that could be as good for the soil as it is for our health.
Garbanzo beans “fix their own nitrogen from the atmosphere, leaving extra stores of the nutrient in the soil for future crops to consume” and “don’t rely on chemical fertilizers”
Read full story at Your Hummus Habit Could Be Good For The Earth : The Salt : NPR
Posted in Environment | Tags: Hummus
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 24, 2019
Wildflower Reports Around California 7/23/19
Carson Pass Information Station has posted of video of Meiss Meadow
California Wildflower Reports has a new post with photos for Little Lakes Valley at Rock Creek.
Marin CNPS has a new post with photos for Kehoe Beach
California Wildflower Tipline has some new photos from Mt. Rose
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 24, 2019
Audubon’s 2019 photography awards
BirdLife Magazine reports
Audubon has announced the winners of its 2019 photography competition.
See photos and read story at Photo Essay: Audubon’s 2019 photography awards | BirdLife
Posted in Bird Festivals, Birds, Photography | Tags: Audubon's 2019 photography awards
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 23, 2019
FAA May Curb Excessive Air Tours Over National Parks
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility(PEER) News Release
PROMISED CRACKDOWN ON PARK OVERFLIGHTS YET TO TAKE OFF
Facing Lawsuit, FAA and Park Service Vow Action After Years of Impasse
Under pressure from pending litigation, the Federal Aviation Administration is vowing to curb excessive air tours buzzing over national parks starting this summer, according to sworn declarations submitted in a lawsuit brought by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). This new FAA pledge belies its failure to establish a single air tour management plan covering any park since Congress enacted the National Park Air Tour Management Act back in 2000.
Air tours offer visitors panoramic views of some of our most iconic national parks. But the constant whump-whump of low-flying helicopters and whining drone of small planes disturbs both visitors and wildlife. Some parks, such as Hawaii Volcanoes, are besieged by constant year-round helicopter noise, with as many as 80 flights a day.
Posted in Park | Tags: National Park Air Tours
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 22, 2019
California Wildflower Tipline 7/21/19
California Wildflower Tipline has new wildflower posts with photos for
- Lake Siskiyou trail in Mount Shasta
- Mt. Rose
- the west end of Huntington Lake. Shooting Stars and Columbine are fading, but Tiger Lillies and Paintbrush are going strong.
- Wright’s Lake
See photos at California Wildflower Tipline
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 22, 2019
Pilot Whales in Georgia Are Saved From Being Beached
The New York Times reported
After a pod of whales washed up on the shores of St. Simons Island, dozens of beachgoers raced to push them out to sea.
In all, nearly 50 whales swam into shallow waters and as many as six caught in the surf were pushed back successfully, according to a spokesman at the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division, part of the state’s Department of Natural Resources and one of the first organizations that arrived on the scene to help with the rescue.
Read story at Pilot Whales in Georgia Are Saved From Being Beached – The New York Times
Posted in Animals | Tags: Pilot Whales
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 21, 2019
Condor Dance Party
Then Oregon Zoo published this video
The California Condor Recovery Program just confirmed its 1000th chick! This is the mood at our breeding center. Just click the arrow in the middle of the picture and make sure to have the sound on.
Posted in Birds | Tags: California Condor
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 21, 2019
Juvenile Cooper’s Hawks
We still have Juvenile Cooper’s Hawks hanging around out neighborhood.
Photo was taken with a Panasonic-Lumix FZ300 zoomed to 600. Photo is not cropped.
Posted in Birds, Photos (Sandy's) | Tags: Juvenile Cooper's Hawks
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 21, 2019
Wildflowers Around California 7/20/19
Carson Pass Information Station reports
backside of Frog Lake iris are just past peak and plentiful.Trail to Winnemucca is largely free of snow. All three campsites are free of snow, although the trail marker to #1 is either buried in snow or gone.Flowers along the usual “epic section” where it is wet are just starting to bloom. I predict peak is about two weeks out.Trail from Winnemucca to Woods Lake is snow free. Flowers higher on canyon walls are plentiful, but not yet happening anywhere near the creek.
California Wildflower Tipline has new postings with photos of
- Tuolumne Meadows and Upper Cathedral Lake Trail and Tioga Pass in Yosemite
- west end of Huntington Lake. Shooting Stars and Columbine are fading, but Tiger Lillies and Paintbrush are going strong.
- Wright’s Lake
- Monte Bello Open Space Preserves.
- Mormon Emigrant Trail Rd. off Highway 88 and at least 1.25 miles of Silver Fork Road! Immediately, you see large swathes of Sidalcea reptans, Sierra checker mallow; Eriogonum nudum, Naked buckwheat; and other lovelies including lupine. Then, at the loop right at the beginning of the METrail, turn off and park at the end opposite the toilets. You’ll find wallflowers, pussytoes, pretty face, and a new one for me Astragalus bolanderi Bolander’s milk vetch … though once the pods form it might turn out to be a different variation of Astragalus. Continue on down the road and you’ll be awed by the Ceanothus and all the manner of blue, yellow and red pops. Now turn onto Silver Fork Rd. go just a mile give or take a few hundred feet and pull over when you see the huge field of Wyethia mollis, Woolly mule’s ears on your right … magical. There you’ll also find large amounts of Allium campanulatum, Dusky onion or Sierra onion. You can keep going through the pines to the Silver Fork of the American River or if you turn around and are heading back on METrail keep your eye pealed for a dirt turn out in about a half mile on the left when you see Indian Paint Brush on the right. Stop, park, get out and you’ll see the biggest display of electric blue Hackelia nervosa, Sierra Stickseed; bright red-orange Ipomopsis aggregata, Scarlet Gilia.
- Sierra Onion near Marlette Lake, Ca. So many flowers in the area that it’s almost overwhelming.
- Sonora Pass
- Virginia Lakes
See photos at California Wildflower Tipline
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 21, 2019
The 1,000th California Condor Chick
The Salt Lake Tribune reported
A decades long program to bring back the nearly extinct California condor has hit a milestone: The 1,000th condor chick hatched recently at southern Utah’s Zion National Park.
Read full story at The 1,000th California condor chick in a decadeslong restoration program has hatched at Zion National Park
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 20, 2019
Lassen Wildflowers 7/18/19
Lassen National Park reports
Wooly mule’s ears (wyethia mollis) are in full bloom above the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center! Enjoy the flower-lined path on the beginning of the Ridge Lakes Trail or enjoy the yellow-spotted slopes from the park highway.
See photos at (4) Lassen Volcanic National Park – Home
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 20, 2019
Carson Pass Wildflowers: Meiss Col 7/19/19
Carson Pass Information Station – Home reports on a wildflower hike to Meiss Col
the top to Meiss Col that overlooks the Carson Pass on one side and Tahoe on the other. And the flowers, oh the flowers! Colors galore. There is still some snow and some have not bloomed yet but it’s a pure delight.
See photos at Carson Pass
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 20, 2019
Homestead Valley Land Trust Wildflowers 7/19/19
Homestead Valley has a new wildflower update. See photos Homestead Valley July 19
NEW
– Coast tarweed, with its tall stalks of tightly clustered yellow flowers blooms in meadows and has a distinctive ‘tar’ smell when rubbed.
– Queen Anne’s lace*, native of Europe, is blooming with tall white flowers in meadows.
– Toyon, this tree or large shrub is blooming with white clusters throughout the valley.
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 20, 2019
Oregon Wildflowers: Iron Mt. 7/19/19
Oregon Wildflowers reports on Iron Mt. Wildflowers
Among the blooms: aster, bluebells, bunchberry, Cascade lily, columbine, larkspur, lupine, Oregon sunshine, paintbrush, penstemon, queen-cup, scarlet gilia, stonecrop, thimbleberry, tiger lily, vanilla leaf, windflower. Iron Mountain’s meadows continued to be filled with blooms.
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 20, 2019
How Climate Change May Affect the Plants in Your Yard
The NY Times reports on How Climate Change May Affect the Plants in Your Yard
As temperatures warm across America, growing zones for flowers, shrubs, and trees are shifting northward.
Read story at How Climate Change May Affect the Plants in Your Yard – The New York Times
Posted in Environment, Garden | Tags: Climate Change and Your Garden
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 19, 2019
Oregon Wildflowers 7/16/19
Oregon Wildflowers reports:
Duffy-Santiam lakes (7/16/19) – Among the blooms were beargrass, bunchberry, lupine, queen-cup, shooting star, windflower and whole meadows of paintbrush. Beargrass blooms were still robust at the higher elevations (Santiam Lake is at 5,100 feet). The Duffy-Santiam lakes trailhead is on Big Meadows Road near Highway 22 milepost 76.
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 19, 2019
Carson Pass Wildflowers: Round Top 7/17/19
Carson Pass Information Station – Home reports
Round Top, up by Winnemucca Lake, about 8,500 elev: There’s still lots of snow on the trail and the flowers are just getting started.
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 19, 2019
Sequoia National Forest Wildflowers 7/15/19
See photos for Big Meadows Rd, 14S11, Sequoia National Forest, at (1) California Wildflower Tipline
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 19, 2019
Santa Monica Mountains Wildflowers 7/16/19
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area has a new report
| Rivas Canyon | A trail that connects Temescal Gateway Park and Will Rogers State Park | 7/16 |
| Find this trail by walking into Temescal Gateway Park. At the end of the parking lot take the paved fork to the right and continue on a quarter mile or so until you see a sign on the right indicating the Rivas Canyon Trail. This is a much less traveled trail than the Temescal “Loop”. It is about 2 miles to Will Rogers and then, of course, about 2 miles back. This trail starts and continues with a relentless uphill and you are rewarded with some lovely ocean views. Then it is downhill to Will Rogers and reversed on the return. It is quite an aerobic work out and the trail is mostly exposed chaparral so mornings and evenings are most enjoyable. I was stunned at the profusion of flowers still in bloom. There was nothing out of the ordinary blooming but there was a tremendous amount of ordinary flowers in bloom. There were great banks of California buckwheat and of cliff aster, laurel sumac bushes and toyon trees were utterly covered in flowers. Heart leaf penstemon, wild morning glory, honeysuckle and black sage either draped over the banks of flowers or poked out through them. All of this is punctuated with some lovely pink bush mallow, purple big flower phacelia and yellow sunflowers. Blooming yucca crowns the hilltops. There are long stretches where the trail is lined with bright yellow slender tarweed. The greenback ceanothus are coming out with a second bloom on twigs that have grown out from the place where they had flowers in March and fruit in May. I don’t ever recall such a flower filled July. |
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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 19, 2019
Mt. Rainier Wildflowers 7/19/19
Mt. Rainier National Park reports
Currently Blooming
July has been unusually mild and wet so far, but the foggy weather has a way of making colors pop. Patches of scarlet paintbrush (Castilleja miniata) are blooming along roadsides in the Paradise area. Scarlet paintbrush can be bright red, but can range in color to orange or even yellow in rare cases! Peak bloom in the meadows is probably still a few weeks off, but a driving tour of the park is a good way to view wildflowers.
Please Note: As snow melts away, it may be tempting to skirt remaining patches of snow that are covering trails. However, by going off trail you are walking on and damaging the wildflowers that you may be coming to see! It is better to stay on trail even if that means crossing snow, particularly in the high-visitation meadows around Paradise and Sunrise.
Wildflower Reports
- Sunrise (7/17) – magenta paintbrush, phlox, pasqueflower seedheads, cinquefoil, fleeceflower, mountain sandwor
- Sunrise Road (7/17) – thimbleberry, arnica, sitka mountain ash, sitka valerian, phlox, bear grass, lupine, scarlet paintbrush
- Stevens Canyon Road (7/17) – thimbleberry, goat’s beard (lots!), bear grass, arnica, lupine, sitka valerian, rosy spirea, subalpine daisy, scarlet paintbrush, avalanche lily, thistle, slender bog orchid, tiger lily
- Paradise (7/15) – sitka mountain ash (early), scarlet paintbrush, rosy spirea, arnica, subalpine daisy, sitka valerian, oceanspray, avalanche lily (lots!), glacier lily, pasqueflower seedheads, pink mountain heather, Jeffrey’s shooting star, magenta paintbrush, bracted lousewort, tall bluebell, partridgefoot, rock penstemon
- Reflection Lakes & Lakes Loop Trail (7/14) – heather, Sitka mountain ash, Jeffrey’s shooting star, avalanche lily, lupine, magenta paintbrush, scarlet paintbrush, huckleberries, sitka valerian, bracted lousewort, arnica, fan-leaf cinquefoil, purple violets, slender bog orchid, marsh marigold, glacier lily, mountain dandelion, bistort, showy jacob’s ladder, curlybeak lousewort, spreading phlox, cliff penstemon, elephanthead, bear grass
- Comet Falls Trail, low to upper (7/14) – bunchberry, sitka mountain ash, columbine, Jeffrey’s shooting star, slender bog orchid, coralroot, bear grass, wild rhododendron, tiger lily, sitka valerian, elderberry, yellow monkeyflower, lupine, tall bluebells, magenta paintbrush, arnica, yellow violets
- Longmire-Paradise Road (7/11) – lupine, twin flower, pipsissewa, rattlesnake plantain, tiger lily, salal
See photos at Mount Rainier Flickr group!
Plan Your Visit
Paradise and Sunrise are two of the main visitor center areas at Mount Rainier National Park. Both areas are well known for their impressive wildflower meadows. The park also maintains dozens of trails perfect for wildflower viewing.
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 19, 2019
Wildfires disrupt important pollination processes by moths and increase extinction risks
ScienceDaily reports
Researchers have shown for the first time the detrimental effect of wildfires on moths and the ecological benefits they provide by transporting pollen, making interacting plant and insect communities more vulnerable to local extinctions.
Read story at Wildfires disrupt important pollination processes by moths and increase extinction risks — ScienceDaily
Posted in Environment, Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Extinction Risks, Wildfires and Pollincation
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 18, 2019
Wildflowers around California 7/17/19
Carson Pass Visitor’s Center has wildflower photos from
Meiss Ridge via Schneider Cow Camp. We hope you try this one soon while the flower display is still emerging. We think the secret is there is a snow melt weep that keeps the flowers moist. At it’s See photos at (1) Carson Pass Information Station – Home
California Wildflower Tipline has photos from General’s Highway (CA 198 between Quail Flat and the Kings Canyon Overlook, and on FS Rd 14S02) at (1) California Wildflower Tipline
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 18, 2019
Is mass poisoning the only way to solve the Farallon Islands’ overwhelming rodent problem?
The San Francisco Chronicle reports
There are so many mice on the Farallon Islands that sometimes the ground appears to be undulating, a gently rolling tide of rodents.
The mice do not belong on the Farallones, an archipelago 27 miles off the coast of San Francisco. They are tiny interlopers, descended from the escapees off seal-hunting ships in the 1800s. Since then, they have proliferated. There are tens of thousands of them, converging on what scientists say is one of the highest densities of rodents anywhere in the world.
They eat insects, depriving native salamanders of their diet. Owls come to the islands to eat the mice, and then start preying on the Ashy storm petrel, half of whose global population of 8,000 lives in the Farallones. They’re spreading invasive plants on their fur, too.
Read full story at: Is mass poisoning the only way to solve the Farallon Islands’ overwhelming rodent problem? – SFGate
Posted in Animals, Environment
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 17, 2019
Rock Creek Wildflowers 7/16/19
California Wildflower Report has new post with photos for Rock Creek in the Eastern Sierra at: (1) California Wildflower Report – Home
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 17, 2019
Orchids in the Park July 20 & 21
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Learn to grow from the experts
The San Francisco Orchid Society understands that sometimes orchid growing can be challenging. It can even be overwhelming at times. That is why we are offering 2 days of insight, inspiration, and support for you. Each demonstration is free with your admission to the show and you may attend as many as you like. Our seasoned orchid growers will guide you from A to Z. This year we have even included a class on Botanical Illustration for those who are artistically inclined. Join us for Orchids in the Park…It will be fun!
Demonstration Schedule
SATURDAY • JULY 20, 2019
- 11 AM – Cymbidium Division & Culture by Florence Inserto
- 1 PM – Media Alert, choosing the best growing materials for your orchids by Jonathan Robbins
- 2 PM – Drawing Botanicals with Colored Pencil by Victoria Kochergin
- 3 PM – Keeping Your New Orchid Baby Alive by Bill Weaver
SUNDAY • JULY 21, 2019
- 11 AM – Bay Area Orchid Growing by Tanya Lam
- 1 PM – Growing For Success, secrets from a professional grower by Debra Atwood
- 3 PM – Orchids 101 by Paul Bourbin
Posted in Garden | Tags: SF Orchid Show
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 16, 2019
Hawks in the Hood
Two nights ago we had three juvenile Cooper’s Hawks on three different utility poles in our North Berkeley neighborhood.
Posted in Birds, Photos (Sandy's) | Tags: Juvenile Cooper's Hawks
Posted by: Sandy Steinman | July 16, 2019
Wildflowers Around California 7/15/19
The Marin CNPS has posted wildflower photos from a field trip to Bull Point on Point Reyes National Seashore at (6) Marin Native Plants
Botanical Wanderings has posted wildflower photos from Clover Springs Preserve in Cloverdale in Sonoma County at (6) Botanical Wanderings – California
California Wildflower Report has new posts for Mammoth Lakes, Convict Lake, Lake Sabrina and Tequepis Trail in the Santa Ynez mountains at 6) California Wildflower Report – Home
Mono County Tourism has a post for Poison Lake in the Carson Iceberg Wilderness at 6) Mono County Tourism – California’s Eastern Sierra – Home
Natural History Wanderings 