Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 24, 2025

One-Of-A-Kind Orange Snowy Owl Leaves Scientists Scratching Their Heads 

The Dodo reported

If snowy owls are known for one thing, it’s their white plumage. Their coloring helps them blend in with the frost-covered environments they call home.

Wildlife photographer Julie Maggert has been taking pictures of snowy owls for years. So when she heard that a strange, orange-colored snowy owl had been spotted flying around Michigan’s Thumb area, she knew she had to see the bird for herself.

See photo of owl and read more at One-Of-A-Kind Orange Snowy Owl Leaves Scientists Scratching Their Heads – The Dodo

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 23, 2025

New national forest to see 20m trees planted across West by 2050

BBC reported

The government says the new Western Forest project will help the UK meet its tree-planting targets.

Twenty million trees will be planted and 2,500 hectares (6,178 acres) of new woodland created in the west of England as part of a “national forest” drive, the government has announced.

Read on www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93nxj5n5g9o

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 23, 2025

Inadvertently Victorious — How Some Species Persist as the Climate Collapses 

The Revelator reported

Hunting enthusiasts moved species like muskoxen and mountain goats to new environments, but their survival in those faraway lands may help animals in other areas.

In his dark 1967 sonnet “All Along the Watchtower,” Nobel Laureate songwriter Bob Dylan painted a dour picture of businessmen and plowmen abusing earth while clueless of its value. If it were written today, phrases like “climate catastrophe,” “pollution,” “species extinctions,” and “a planet gasping for air” might have made the list.

Read more at  Inadvertently Victorious — How Some Species Persist as the Climate Collapses • The Revelator

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 22, 2025

Here’s an easy way you can help California native wildflowers thrive 

LAist reported

California wildflower blooms aren’t expected to be as big this year, but there’s an easy action you could take to help other native plants grow around you.

A new study from researchers at UC Riverside found that raking away thatch — a tan layer of dead plant debris produced by invasive plants like grasses — can be an effective way to increase biodiversity of native plants.

Read more Here’s an easy way you can help California native wildflowers thrive | LAist

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 21, 2025

Upcoming CNPS Events

See the calendar of upcoming events of the California Native Plants Society at https://www.cnps.org/events

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 21, 2025

Photos from Mt. Burdell

Photos from Mt Burdell on Tuesday March 18, 2025.

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 21, 2025

Meet the Passionate Advocates Trying to Save Western Monarch Butterflies

The Revelator

Western monarchs face myriad threats. A network of advocates is doing everything they can to mitigate the dangers and unravel mysteries about monarch movements and behavior.

In 2023 volunteers counted 16,000 western monarch butterflies at the eucalyptus grove in Pismo Beach, California. In 2024 they counted fewer than 200. “I just stood in the grove and wept,” one volunteer wrote. But they didn’t give up.

Red more Meet the Passionate Advocates Trying to Save Western Monarch Butterflies • The Revelator

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 20, 2025

Job Opening

Bay Nature is Hiring!
Become our new Membership ManagerJoin our team as a full-time membership manager! Know anyone with strong digital marketing, design, and communications skills, along with a creative and entrepreneurial spirit? Send them our way. Learn More Here »

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 20, 2025

Taxonomist Appreciation Day

from the archives of the Revelator

Yesterday was Taxonomist Appreciation Day, a reminder that it’s a heck of a lot harder to save a species from extinction if it doesn’t have a name.

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 20, 2025

Decades after peregrines came back from the brink, a new threat emerges 

The Guardian reported

DDT use nearly wiped out the raptor by the 1970s. Now peregrine numbers are collapsing again in many countries and no one is quite sure why

Read more at  Decades after peregrines came back from the brink, a new threat emerges | Environment | The Guardian

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 19, 2025

New species of venomous snake discovered in Venezuela

Sacramento Bee reported

Alongside a mountain road in northern Venezuela, a venomous creature tucked up its 1-foot-long body and hid under a rock to wait for nightfall. The lurking animal caught the attention of passing scientists — and for good reason.

It turned out to be a new species.

Read more: New species of venomous snake discovered in Venezuela: photo | Sacramento Bee

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 19, 2025

Anza-Borrego Foundation Events 

Anza-Borrego Foundation hosts a variety of events and educational programs, including hikes, botany walks, photography workshops, and more. See the schedule at  Events | Anza-Borrego Foundation

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 19, 2025

Invasive Australian species found in US: Are the critters harmful?

USA Today reported

A new critter is creeping into the United States’ waters.  The invasive Australian redclaw crayfish has been spotted in southern Texas, roughly 8,000 miles from its home. The freshwater crustacean is indigenous to the rivers of northern Australia and parts of Papua New Guinea.

Read more at : Invasive Australian species found in US: Are the critters harmful?

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 18, 2025

Rockslide closes critical highway into Yosemite indefinitely

SF Gate reported

A rockslide on a crucial entry into Yosemite National Park has closed a portion of state Route 140. The debris slide occurred sometime Monday night, according to Caltrans, and forced the agency to close about 2 miles of the highway between the small communities of Briceburg and El Portal.

Read more  Rockslide closes critical highway into Yosemite indefinitely

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 18, 2025

Meet Quipu, the largest structure in the universe

Meet Quipu, the largest structure in the universe
— Read on earthsky.org/space/quipu-largest-structure-in-the-universe/

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 17, 2025

Webinar: Alcatraz Island – Climate Refuge for Birds 3/20

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 17, 2025

California’s most underappreciated national park is quietly in crisis

SF Gate reported on the impact of the government cutbacks at Channel Islands National Park including  staff cuts and spending freezes will impact the park and  likely cost taxpayers more in the long run.

Beneath a facade of normalcy, the Channel Islands are being pushed to their limit.

Everything seems glorious at Channel Islands National Park. It isn’t.

Read article at California’s most underappreciated national park is quietly in crisis

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 17, 2025

Award-Winning Photographer Timothy Boomer Captures Magical Macro Photographs of Fungi

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The natural world is filled with breathtaking beauty, often hidden in plain sight. Award-winning photographer Timothy Boomer specializes in revealing the unseen wonders of nature through his magical macro photos of fungi and other tiny organisms.

His work showcases extreme close-ups of the natural world, capturing colors, details, and patterns that often go unnoticed by the naked eye. With his mastery of specialized macro techniques and an inspiring talent for composition and framing, Boomer transforms small-scale subjects into stunning works of art.

omposition and framing, Boomer transforms small-scale subjects into stunning works of art.

See his amazing photos and read more at  Award-Winning Photographer Timothy Boomer Captures Magical Macro Photographs of Fungi

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 16, 2025

Trump admin reportedly rescinds national monuments in California

The Wilderness Society reported

According to New York Times and Washington Post reporting, the Trump administration has rescinded the proclamations that established two national monuments totaling nearly a million acres in California: Chuckwalla National Monument, near Joshua Tree National Park, and Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, just northeast of Mount Shasta.

Read more  Trump admin reportedly rescinds national monuments in California | The Wilderness Society

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 16, 2025

Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association Upcoming Events

See upcoming events calendar of hikes and programs at https://www.abdnha.org/calendar1.htm.

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 16, 2025

Gateway town fights to reopen Olympic National Park’s quiet rainforest

SF Gate reported

In December, the one road leading to Olympic National Park’s Hoh Rain Forest, the quietest place in the country, closed indefinitely due to washout damage. Local agencies were having trouble securing federal funding to make repairs, and business owners in Forks, the nearby gateway town that’s entirely dependent on tourism, were beginning to panic.

On Thursday morning, the people of Forks breathed a collective sigh of relief. Through an unusual and unprecedented funding arrangement, which required the town itself to raise and contribute thousands of dollars, the road is on its way to being repaired.

Source: Gateway town fights to reopen Olympic National Park’s quiet rainforest

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 16, 2025

What Can Psychology Offer Biodiversity Protection? 

The Revelator reported

The new field of conservation psychology offers valuable lessons for protecting the world’s wildlife — as well as ourselves.

Conservation psychologists study the intersection between people and biodiversity protection by examining environmental justice; human behavior, attitudes, and perceptions; environmental education; community-based conservation and capacity building; and the many ways in which we relate to our natural environments, amongst other topics

Read article at  What Can Psychology Offer Biodiversity Protection? • The Revelator

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 15, 2025

Upcoming Events from Friends of California Condors Wild and Free

See upcoming evnets form Friends of California Condors Wild and Free at  Events | Friends of California Condors Wild and Free

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 15, 2025

Week in wildlife photos: leapfrogging monkeys, a strolling tortoise and Lincolnshire seals

See the Guardina’s The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world at  Week in wildlife: leapfrogging monkeys, a strolling tortoise and Lincolnshire seals | Environment | The Guardian

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 15, 2025

Dark-Eyed Juncos are California’s Unexpected Pioneers of Urban Evolution

California Curated reported

As California’s cities expand and encroach upon natural landscapes, the state’s wildlife is adapting in fascinating ways. One of the most compelling examples of urban ecology at work is the story of the dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis), a small songbird traditionally found in mountainous forests, now thriving in urban environments like San Diego and Los Angeles. These birds are demonstrating the rapid adaptability of species when faced with the unique pressures of urban life, providing a living case study of how evolution unfolds in real-time in human-modified habitats.

Read more at  Dark-Eyed Juncos are California’s Unexpected Pioneers of Urban Evolution – California Curated

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 14, 2025

Wild Flower Hotline

The Theodore Payne Wild Flower Hotline is back! Since 1983, this free weekly guide has helped nature lovers find the best wildflower displays across Southern and Central California. From March through May, updates are posted every Friday and available on our website, via podcast or rss feed, and by phone. The Hotline is your go-to resource for wildflower season, featuring bloom reports from urban parks to remote wilderness areas.

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 14, 2025

Programs canceled, visitor center hours cut at Calif. national parks

SF Gate reported

As national parks adapt to the lasting effects of seasonal job offer rescindment and mass firings on Valentine’s Day, the National Park Service announced it’s canceling ranger programs and limiting visitor center hours at Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks until further notice.

Read more Programs canceled, visitor center hours cut at Calif. national parks

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 14, 2025

American who snatched baby wombat from its mother flees Australia

NBC Bay Area reported

Australian officials are investigating if immigration laws were breached when the Montana-based influencer left the country this week.

Sam Jones, who describes herself as an “outdoor enthusiast & hunter,” made her Instagram account private Thursday after she was widely condemned for the video.

“To take a baby wombat from its mother, and clearly causing distress from the mother, is just an outrage,”

Read full article  American who snatched baby wombat from its mother flees Australia – NBC Bay Area

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 14, 2025

Preparations underway for wildflower crowds in Walnut Creek – NBC Bay Area

NBC Bay Area reported

A wildflower war is blooming in Walnut Creek.

Each spring, thousands of people caravan to Shell Ridge to take pictures of California’s iconic wildflowers.

Among them are influencers who drag their mountain bikes and camera equipment through the delicate flower beds.

To protect the city’s largest open space from the onslaught of visitors, local neighborhood groups are fighting back.

Read more  Preparations underway for wildflower crowds in Walnut Creek – NBC Bay Area

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Posted by: Sandy Steinman | March 14, 2025

Quantity over quality? Different bees are attracted to different floral traits

ScienceDaily  reported

The research findings may help guide efforts to restore pollinator habitats.
When it comes to deciding where they’re going to get their next meal, different species of bees may be attracted to different flower traits.

Read more  Quantity over quality? Different bees are attracted to different floral traits | ScienceDaily

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