The New York Times reported
The Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly is critically endangered, with the last known larva living in a lab in New Mexico.
Read more or listen to this article at They’re Trying to Find a Mate for This Very Lonely Caterpillar
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly
Photographed in the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park in Berkeley, CA on January 21, 2026.
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.
ScienceDaily reported
New research shows tropical forests can recover twice as fast after deforestation when their soils contain enough nitrogen. Scientists followed forest regrowth across Central America for decades and found that nitrogen plays a decisive role in how quickly trees return. Faster regrowth also means more carbon captured from the atmosphere. The study points to smarter reforestation strategies that work with nature rather than relying on fertilizers.
Read on www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260115220612.htm
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Forest Regrowth
SF Bay State of the Birds tracks bird trends as a sign of habitat health to inform restoration and land management decisions across the region.Read about how Bay Area Birds are doing at State of San Francisco Birds
Posted in Birds | Tags: State of San Francisco Bay Birds
See upcoming events for the Siskiyou Land Trust at Upcoming events
Posted in Walks & Hikes | Tags: Siskiyou Land Trust Upcoming Events
BBC Magazine reported
During winter nearly 1,000 owls descend onto a tiny Serbian town centre – and at night it’s party time
A huge parliament of long-eared owls has made an unlikely home in a Serbian town square
Read more at Is this the world’s biggest owl gathering?
Posted in Animals | Tags: Long-eared Owls
See Upcoming Los Padres ForestWatch Upcoming Events at Home | Los Padres ForestWatch
Posted in Birds, Talks | Tags: Los Padres ForestWatch Upcoming Events
A pet cow named Veronika can scratch her own back with a broom — the first scientifically documented case of tool use in cows, researchers say.
— Read on www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/science/animals-cows-intelligence-tools.html
Posted in Animals | Tags: Cow uses tool
The Good News Network reported
The Water Guardians blocked several channel switches along a canal, and brought thousands of gallons of spa water streaming down onto the land
Posted in Environment | Tags: Grassland Preservation
SF Gate reported
A preliminary tally of monarch butterflies that spend the winter along California’s coast looks near the record low. That’s a blow for the beloved pollinator species, which faces an incredibly high risk of extinction.
Read more at Extinction risk is high for iconic California butterfly
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: Monarch Butterfly Extinction Risk
ScienceDaily reported
Moss may look insignificant, but it can carry a hidden forensic fingerprint. Because different moss species thrive in very specific micro-environments, tiny fragments can reveal exactly where a person has been. Researchers reviewing 150 years of cases found moss has helped solve crimes across multiple countries, including one case where it led investigators directly to a buried child. The study urges law enforcement to pay closer attention to these silent witnesses.
Read on www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/12/251225080738.htm
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: How Moss Helps Solve Crimes
The Guardian reported
Scientists say bears in southern Greenland differ genetically to those in the north, suggesting they could adjust
Changes in polar bear DNA that could help the animals adapt to warmer climates have been detected by researchers, in a study thought to be the first time a statistically significant link has been found between rising temperatures and changing DNA in a wild mammal species.
Read more Changes to polar bear DNA could help them adapt to global heating, study finds
Posted in Animals, Environment | Tags: Climate change, Polar Bears
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Posted in Birds, Photography | Tags: 2026 Audubon Photography Awards
Smithsonian Magazine reported
Human breast milk has long reigned as the most complex known mammal milk. But another species might dethrone us: gray seals.
In a study published November 25 in the journal Nature Communications, researchers analyzed gray seal milk and found around 33 percent more types of complex sugar molecules than in human breast milk, many of which were previously unknown. The findings could pave the way for new methods to support human health.
Posted in Animals | Tags: Gray Seals, Seal Milk
Governor Newsom announces free entry to California State Parks on MLK Day — as Trump swaps the “free day” for his birthday and whitewashes civil rights history from National Parks | Governor of California
— Read on www.gov.ca.gov/2026/01/16/governor-newsom-announces-free-entry-to-california-state-parks-on-mlk-day-as-trump-swaps-the-free-day-for-his-birthday-and-whitewashes-civil-rights-history-from-national-pa/
Posted in Drives, Park | Tags: California State Parks Fee Waiver
Forty-four states have completed Breeding Bird Atlases—globally recognized tools that guide conservation efforts and strengthen biodiversity.
Read more at California Bird Atlas
California isn’t one of them. That’s about to change.
Posted in Birds | Tags: Califonria Breeding Bird Atas
Taking place February 13–16, the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is an inter-organizational effort between Audubon, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Birds Canada. This fun and impactful global community science event engages bird watchers of all ages and skill levels in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations. You’re invited to a lively, beginner-friendly webinar to discover tips, tricks, and ideas on how you can participate in the GBBC on Thursday, February 5 at 3 p.m. ET or Wednesday, February 11 at 7 p.m. ET. Register for the webinar here.
Posted in Birds | Tags: Great Backyard Bird Count
SF Gate reported
The pristine stretch of Sonoma County coastline hasn’t been publicly accessible for 100 years.
Read on www.sfgate.com/local/article/bay-area-coastline-opens-public-21291150.php
Posted in Park | Tags: Estero Americano Coast Preserve i
Earth.com reported
A detailed survey of Dauan Island in Australia found three animal species that are new to science – two frogs and a gecko.
Read more at Unrecognizable sounds lead to discovery of three animal species
Posted in Animals | Tags: Frog, Gecko, New Species
ScienceDaily reported
This plant gave up photosynthesis, shrank its genome, and learned to clone itself—and somehow survived for 100 million years.
Balanophora is a plant that abandoned photosynthesis long ago and now lives entirely as a parasite on tree roots, hidden in dark forest undergrowth. Scientists surveying rare populations across East Asian islands uncovered how its cellular machinery shrank but didn’t disappear, revealing unexpected similarities to parasites like malaria. Some island species even reproduce without sex, cloning themselves to colonize new habitats. This strange survival strategy comes with risks, leaving the plant highly vulnerable to habitat loss.
Read on www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/12/251219093322.htm
Photographed in the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park in Berkeley, CA on January 14, 2026.
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.
Wyoming Public Radio reports
The Trump administration is reviewing hundreds of national wildlife refuges and dozens of fish hatcheries.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it’s looking for sites “established for a purpose that no longer aligns with the mission” of the bureau, according to a Dec. 16 order from Director Brian Nesvik, who used to lead Wyoming’s state wildlife agency.
Read more Fed agency looking for wildlife refuges that ‘no longer align with the mission’
Posted in Animals, Park | Tags: Federal Wildlife Refuges may lose protection
Posted in Environment | Tags: Forest Restoration
Monga Bay reported
Read more at How are California’s birds faring amid ever more frequent wildfires?
Posted in Birds
The list of events will be updated regularly. To view past webinars, please visit our YouTube channel. We also announce events on social media and via our e-newsletter. If you have questions, please email outreach@xerces.org.
To see current list of events go to Events | Xerces Society
Posted in Talks | Tags: Xerces Society Events
Inside Climate News reported
Scientists warn that a proposed expansion of Port Everglades could cause unprecedented damage to corals in the U.S., including some of the only remaining endangered staghorn corals that survived a record-breaking heat wave.
Read more at Ten Million Corals Are in the Path of a Federal Dredging Project in Florida
Posted in Uncategorized
The New York Times reported
If life is a numbers game, ants are winning. There are around 20 quadrillion individual ants on Earth (more than two million per human), representing over 15,000 species, according to one estimate. Their omnipresence bolsters their global importance as aerators of soil, recyclers of dead matter and dispersers of seeds.
Read more The Meek Really Did Inherit the Earth, at Least Among Ants – The New York Times
Posted in Uncategorized
The Tribune reported
Travelers will once again be able to drive the entire Big Sur coast when a troublesome slide area of Highway 1 reopens, which is expected to happen at noon Wednesday. That means for the first time in exactly three years, drivers will be able to make the trip from Cambria to Carmel, since the first in a string of slides closed that part of the highway on Jan. 14, 2023.
Read more at: https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article314302844.html#storylink=cpy
Posted in Drives | Tags: HIghway One Reopening
Check out January Breeding Activity at the California Bird Atlas
January Breeding Activity – California Bird Atlas
Posted in Birds
Natural History Wanderings 