Smithsonian Magazine reported
Opossums and ocelots appear to team up on Amazonian nights, trekking through the rainforest together, according to videos captured by researchers at the Cocha Cashu Biological Station in Peru.
Read more at Video Reveals an Unlikely Bond Between Ocelots and Opossums in the Amazon, Walking Together Like ‘Old Friends’
The Sacramento Bee reported
Traps set in the Illawarra woodlands in Australia revealed 11 microbat species, including the rare southern myotis, a key predator and native pollinator.
Read on http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/world/article311663335.html
Posted in Animals | Tags: Southern Myotis
BirdLife International reported
In a historic move at a crucial time for nature, England, Scotland, and Wales have announced a ban on toxic lead ammunition in outdoor shooting, marking a turning point in the fight to protect wildlife from lead poisoning.
Read story at From forests to flames: how to effectively put out Europe’s megafires – BirdLife International
Posted in Uncategorized
Dnyuz reported
A writhing ball of slimed-up, musky-smelling snake might be just the level of grossness needed to repel the attacks of voracious fire ants.
New research published this spring in The Science of Nature revealed that the scent glands near the back-end of serpents can release enough nasty chemicals to kill ants on touch.
Read mroe Snakes Use Smelly Musk to Keep Ants Out of Their Pants – DNyuz
Posted in Animals | Tags: ants, Snake Defences, Snakes
from Channel Islands Maritime Museum
Moving Cargo, Keeping Whales: Investigating Solutions for Ocean Noise Pollution with Dr. Vanessa ZoBell
Thursday, August 21, 2025 6 – 7 pm – Talk
5:30 pm – CIMM Members Only Meet & Greet
Whales live in a world shaped by sound, they use it to communicate, navigate, hunt and survive. Join us as Dr. Vanessa ZoBell explores the fascinating acoustics of these ocean giants and reveals why protecting their sound scape off our coast is more important than ever.
NPR reported
It had been five years since the first of the frog eggs had been moved, carefully plucked from Mexico’s Baja Peninsula and transported by cooler to Southern California. Anny Peralta-Garcia was getting nervous.
The eggs belonged to California red-legged frogs, an amphibian that had been eaten, bulldozed and eventually pushed out of the state decades earlier. Peralta-Garcia, an Ensenada-based conservation biologist, had helped harvest fresh eggs from a pond in Baja. The efforts to move them back to the frogs’ historic range in California had been monumental — involving private landowners, federal agencies, conservation groups, helicopters and an international border.
Read on www.npr.org/2025/07/19/g-s1-78230/ai-california-frog-science-conservation-threatened-species
Posted in Animals | Tags: Red-legged Frogs
BBC reported
An ice core that may be older than 1.5 million years has arrived in the UK where scientists will melt it to unlock vital information about Earth’s climate.
The glassy cylinder is the planet’s oldest ice and was drilled from deep inside the Antarctic ice sheet.
Frozen inside is thousands of years of new information that scientists say could “revolutionise” what we know about climate change
Posted in Environment
Posted in Park | Tags: Deer Valley Regional Park, East Bay Regional Parks
The Guardian reported
Britain has a new species of butterfly: the southern small white has continued its rapid colonisation of northern Europe by flying across the North Sea.
The species looks very similar to the native small, large and green-veined whites but two individuals spotted in County Durham and Suffolk this summer have been verified as Pieris mannii, which was once confined to southern Europe.
Read more and see photo at ‘Top marks’ for sharp-eyed snappers as UK nets new butterfly species | Butterflies | The Guardian
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: Southern Small White
See upcoming events calendar for the East Bay Regional Parks at https://www.ebparks.org/calendar
Posted in Park, Walks & Hikes | Tags: East Bay Regional Parks
Discover Wildlife reported
When cane toads were introduced to Japan’s Ishigaki Island in 1978, the crested serpent eagles that lived there were already well prepared. Research in BMC Ecology and Evolution suggests that the critically endangered raptor already carried a genetic mutation that enabled it to eat the toxic critter with relative impunity.
Posted in Birds | Tags: Serpent eagles
The Good News Network reported
Adrift amongst a sea of wheat on an English farm, 4 extremely rare birds have successfully fledged, and are almost ready to strike out on their own.
The successfully raised chicks are Montagu’s harriers, England’s rarest breeding bird, and the news the young ones were flying was herald as an “incredible” accomplishment.
Read more at : UK’s Rarest Breeding Birds Raise Chicks for First Time in Six Years
Posted in Birds | Tags: Montagu’s harrier
The Guardian reported
Overall clearing was up 3%, with almost half in Great Barrier Reef catchment areas while 21% was remnant woodland, government data shows
Posted in Environment | Tags: Australia, Deforestation, Queensland
ITV reported
UK scientists are working to save one of the world’s most beautiful snails which is at risk of extinction due to the popularity of their striking shells.
The snails, known as Polymita, are endemic to Eastern Cuba and feature shells with vibrant colours and interesting patterns.
Read more and see photos fo these very colorful snails at ‘World’s most beautiful snail’ is at risk: What UK scientists are doing to save the species | ITV News
Posted in Animals | Tags: 'World's most beautiful snail'
SF Gate reported
The massive Yosemite National Park Tuolumne Meadows Campground has reopened after a three-year closure.
Read on www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/yosemite-tuolumne-meadows-campground-reopens-20798197.php
Posted in Park | Tags: Tuolumne Meadows Campground, Yosemite
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
The Guardian reported
Many of the nation’s wetlands are being filled with toxic Pfas “forever chemicals” as wastewater treatment plant effluent tainted with the compounds is increasingly used to restore swampland and other waters. The practice threatens wildlife, food and drinking water sources, environmental advocates warn.
Read more at US wetlands ‘restored’ using treated sewage tainted with forever chemicals | Pfas | The Guardian
Posted in Uncategorized
The New York Times reported
The Dragon Bravo fire has been burning for more than a month, fueled by record-low humidity that has hampered containment efforts.
Read on www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/weather/dragon-bravo-wildfire-grand-canyon.html
Posted in Environment, Park | Tags: Dragon Wildfire
AP reported
Hundreds of remote homes are being threatened by a massive wildfire burning through Los Padres National Forest in central California.
Posted in Environment | Tags: Wildfires
SF Gate
A magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck near Russia last Tuesday, leading to a tsunami advisory along the Bay Area coastline, 4-foot-high waves in Crescent City and evacuation warnings in Monterey. It also appeared to threaten the precarious existence of one of the rarest animals on Earth.
Read more Earthquake rattles Death Valley home of one of Earth’s rarest species
Posted in Animals | Tags: Death Valley, Pupfish
Roadtripping California reports on
Discover the best Bay Area gardens, in and around San Francisco: botanical gardens, historic estates and gardens, and city or state gardens.
Read about the gardens at 14 Bay Area Gardens to Visit in and around San Francisco, California – Roadtripping California
Posted in Garden | Tags: Bay Area Gardens
Today, in honor of the fifth anniversary of the #GreatAmericanOutdoorsAct, all National Park Service entrance fees are waived. Not a bad way to start a Monday.
What if there’s not a park near me? Chances are, there’s a park closer than you think. There are over 400 national park areas spread across the country. Check nps.gov and search by state to find one close to you. (Keep in mind the nearest park entrance may be behind you.)
What is the Great American Outdoors Act? Thanks for asking. The Great American Outdoors Act (#GAOA) provides funding to improve infrastructure, address extensive and long-overdue maintenance and repair needs, and expand recreation opportunities in national parks. Over the last five years, hundreds of projects have been underway. Learn more at: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/infrastructure/gaoa.htm
Image: Yosemite National Park recently reopened the Tuolumne Meadows Campground following the completion of a transformative three-year, $26 million rehabilitation project funded through the Great American Outdoors Act.
Posted in Free admission to national parks, Park | Tags: Free admission to national parks
Discover Wildlife reported
A wildlife photographer has filmed the moment a peregrine falcon fiercely protects her chicks from red foxes.
See video and read story at “Absolutely stunning”: astonishing footage shows falcon attacking foxes in Los Angeles | Discover Wildlife
Posted in Animals | Tags: Falcons attacking foxes
LiveScience reported
A previously-undetected flood over Greenland’s ice sheet has confounded model predictions about how the region’s meltwater should leak.
Posted in Environment | Tags: Greenland, Ice Sheet Leaks
We’re hiring!
The application is now open for a Parks Interpretive Specialist (PIS) position at Samuel P. Taylor State Park!
Follow the link in the below https://calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/Jobs/JobPosting.aspx?JobControlId=486149
Posted in Job Openings | Tags: Job Announcement
NewsBreak and GreenMatters reported
Beyond the naked eye of humans, plants live in a fascinating world of fantasy. Unfathomable to human imagination, plants usually remain surrounded by a fine mist of airborne compounds that hang in the air. Whenever an insect or an animal attacks a plant, the injured plant silently alerts its fellow plants to activate their defense mechanism. A team of Japanese researchers recently explored this phenomenon of plant chattering and published some noteworthy findings in the journal Nature Communications, with a YouTube video.
Read more at Scientists Just Found Out Plants ‘Talk’ to Each Other — Especially About Their Natural Enemies – NewsBreak
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Plant Communication
The Guardian reported
A 2024 mass monarch butterfly die-off in California was probably caused by pesticide exposure, new peer-reviewed research finds, adding difficult-to-obtain evidence to the theory that pesticides are partly behind dramatic declines in monarchs’ numbers in recent decades.
Researchers discovered hundreds of butterflies that had died or were dying in January 2024 near an overwintering site, where insects spend winter months. The butterflies were found twitching or dead in piles, which are common signs of neurotoxic pesticide poisoning, researchers wrote
Read on www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/01/monarch-butterflies-mass-die-off-pesticides
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: Monarch Butterflies
Local News Matters reported
Bay Area congressmembers want the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association to investigate why gray whale deaths in the region are at their highest in 25 years.
Read more Bay Area congressmembers call for NOAA investigation into rising whale deaths – Local News Matters
Posted in Uncategorized
See the free upcoming Carson Pass hikes and events from the Eldorado National Forest Interpretive Association at Calendar – ENFIA
Posted in Walks & Hikes | Tags: Upcoming Events and Hikes at Carson Pass
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 