The New York Times report
Deep-sea videos from around the world show how the whipnose anglerfish prefers to swim belly up.
Usually, a belly-up fish isn’t long for this world. But video evidence from the deep ocean suggests that some species of anglerfish — the nightmarish deep-sea fish with bioluminescent lures — live their whole lives upside down.
Read more and see videos at A Fish That Fishes for Other Fish Lives Its Life Upside Down
Posted in Animals | Tags: Fish That Swim Upside Down, Whipnose Anglerfish
from Xerces Society
Learn ecologically sound land practices that promote pollinators, climate resilience, clean waters and lands. Practical knowledge and innovation on pesticide reduction, habitat installation, fostering soil health, pollinator biology, pollinator conservation and more.
Posted in Butterflies, Environment | Tags: Best Practices for Pollinators Summit
Full-time Botanist GS -9 or GS-7 equivalent, for the Tuolumne River Trust (TRT), functioning out of TRT’s Sonora office. This grant-funded position primarily supports the Forest Health Program’s operations and project development. However, the position will be able to support other TRT programs, such as river and meadow restoration, advocacy, and education, as time and funding allow.
Learn more and see how to apply Botanist at the Tuolumne River Trust – CNPS Forums
Posted in Job Openings | Tags: Job Opening
The New York Times reports
As the number of bees and other pollinators falls, field pansies are adapting by fertilizing their own seeds, a new study found.
Read more at Flowers Are Evolving to Have Less Sex
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Pollination
from Xerces Society
The 27th annual Thanksgiving count totaled 233,394 butterflies across 256 overwintering sites in the western United States. This tally is slightly lower than last year’s, yet similar to the 2021 count. The overwintering population of western monarchs remains at approximately 5% of its size in the 1980s. Learn more.
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: Western Monarch Count
SF Gate reports
Huge crowds at California waterfall caused so much damage it has to close
The main trail leading down to Burney Falls is in need of reconstruction
Burney Falls, the 129-foot waterfall whose splendor attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to its location deep in the forest of Shasta County every year, is slated to close to the public starting in April. The main trail leading down to Burney Falls is in need of reconstruction, necessitating the closure of McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park’s waterfall and swimming hole area through the spring and summer of 2024, California State Parks announced.
Read more at Huge crowds at California waterfall caused so much damage it has to close
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Burney Falls Closure
Taken today in my garden (2/16/24).
Posted in Garden, Photos (Sandy's), Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Flowers, Garden Photos
On Tuesday, the Regional Parks Foundation was named Outstanding Non-Profit by the California Parks & Recreation Society-District 3. The Foundation was recognized in the innovation/new program development category, highlighting the Park District’s XPLORE – Parks to People virtual reality program, which is supported by Foundation grant funding. Learn more about the Foundation’s support of Park District programs at http://regionalparksfoundation.org.
Posted in Park | Tags: Regional Parks Foundation
SF Gate reports
The solitude provided by the Bay Area’s redwood forests is often unmatched, especially in the rainy season.
A trio of parks in San Mateo County take it up a notch as they have plenty of space, unrivaled views and wooded isolation to go around.
I’m talking about Sam McDonald, Memorial and Pescadero Creek County parks — three beautiful (yet distinct) spaces that San Mateo County Parks park ranger Katherine Wright sometimes refers to as “The Great Park.”
Read more Redwoods survived fires and dams to form ‘hidden’ Bay Area parks
Posted in Park | Tags: Redwood Parks
SF Gate reports
Muir Woods reopened Thursday after a four-day closure caused by damage from this week’s storm, park officials announced. Impacts from the storm’s high winds caused some of Muir Woods’ famous redwood trees to topple over, the National Park Service’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area said in an Instagram post. One fallen tree was so large that it blocked the Bohemian Grove trail and destroyed a section of boardwalk on the other side of Redwood Creek.
Posted in Park | Tags: Muir Woods Reopens
Posted in Job Openings | Tags: Job Opening
| The Park District’s annual Youth Job Fairs are designed to raise awareness of employment opportunities for youth in the East Bay. This year, the District is hosting two youth job fairs, one in person and one online.
In-Person Youth Job Fair Saturday, February 24, 2024 10:00am – 1:00pm Virtual Youth Job Fair Saturday, March 2, 2024 10:30am – noon Visit the Careers for Youth and Studentswebpage to learn more about the positions being offered for 2024. |
Posted in Job Openings, Park | Tags: East Bay Regional Parks, Youth Job Fair
Sonoma Land Trust Presents: Language of the Land: Sea Otters to the Rescue
February 22, 7-8:30pm, Zoom (registration required)
California’s coastal ecosystems are under stress—the kelp forests, seagrass meadows, and salt marshes have been in decline for decades. Sea otters may be the key to restoring these ecosystems. Although they are locally extinct in Northern California, there is great untapped potential for recovering sea otters to enhance the restoration efforts of local ecosystems. In this talk by Dr. Brent Hughes of Sonoma State University, we will learn about these predators and their function in restoration, and explore the idea of how we might bring the sea otters back to the Sonoma Coast.
Spanish interpretation will be provided.
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Posted in Animals | Tags: Sea Otters
UC Santa Barbara reports
Now scientists at UC Santa Barbara have discovered that wildfire ash adds nutrients to marine systems, and that microbes at the base of the food web can use these nutrients to grow. This contrasts with the impacts of ash in freshwater ecosystems, where it is often toxic. The results appear in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Read article at Thomas Fire research reveals that ash can fertilize the oceans | The Current
Posted in Environment
The New York Times reports
Scientists said the decline appeared to be driven by hot, dry conditions in the United States and Canada that reduced food supply.
The number of monarch butterflies at their overwintering areas in Mexico dropped precipitously this year to the second-lowest level on record, according to an annual survey.
The census, considered a benchmark of the species’s health, found that the butterflies occupied only about 2.2 acres of forest in central Mexico, down 59 percent from the prior year. Only the winter of 2013-14 had fewer butterflies.
Read article at Monarch Butterfly Numbers Are Down Sharply at Wintering Areas in Mexico
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: Declining Mexican Monarch Butterfly Population
A list of botanical gardens and arboretums in California is intended to include all significant botanical gardens and arboretums in the U.S. state of California. See garden list at List of botanical gardens and arboretums in California – Wikipedia
Posted in Garden | Tags: California Botanic Gardens
The Guardian writes about two types of trees and a palm that live underground are among the new plant species and a Volcano-top orchid are among the newly named species in 2023. There are 400,000 named plant species but scientists estimate there are another 100,000 yet to be identified. Read article at Tree that lives underground among newly named plant species | Plants | The Guardian
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Newly Named Species
published last October by LAist
Half of the endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep tracked by scientists died during last season’s record-breaking winter, according to researchers interviewed by LAist.
Some sheep got trapped in avalanches, some died of starvation, and some were killed by mountain lions when the sheep were forced to move to lower elevations to look for food.
The population is now estimated at 360 sheep, a 40% decline from a year ago, according to Tom Stephenson, who heads the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program. That estimate includes new lambs that were born in the spring.
Read more at California’s Big Snow Year Decimated Endangered Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep
Posted in Uncategorized
ScienceNews.org reports
To get by in the waterlogged, low-nutrient soil of the Quebrada Chorro forest in western Panama, a species of tree fern repurposes its dead fronds, turning them into roots.
Read more at This weird fern is the first known plant that turns its dead leaves into new roots
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Cyathea rojasiana, tree ferns
Fetid Adder’s Tongue or Slinkpod/Scoliopus bigelovii is one of my favorite wildflowers to photograph. Here is a link to a Flick album of photos I have taken of them over the years. Fetid Adder’s Tongue Photos
The BBC reports
Kew scientists discovered nearly 100 new plants and fungi last year – but some may already be extinct.
From an underground “forest” to spectacular orchids, scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, discovered 74 new plants and 15 fungi last year.
Many of the mysterious species were found in unlikely places, such as on the top of a volcano or clinging to Antarctic rocks.
The new finds need immediate protection and at least one will probably already have been lost, the scientists say.
Read article at Kew Gardens names mysterious plants and fungi new to science
Posted in Mushrooms, Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Kew Gardens, New Fungi, New Plants
Miami Herald reported
Scientists found an “armored” river creature with iridescent patches in Brazil and discovered a new catfish species: Corydoras caramater.
— Read on www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article285389642.html
Posted in Animals | Tags: New Catfish Species
Berkeley News reports
During the summer of 2018, the Mendocino Complex Fire ripped through UC’s Hopland Research and Extension Center (HREC), transforming the Northern California property’s grassy, oak-dotted hillsides into a smoldering, ash-covered wasteland.
“It felt like something out of the Lord of the Rings — like Mordor. It was hard to imagine much surviving,” said Justin Brashares, a professor of environmental science, policy and management at the University of California, Berkeley.
But mere months after the fire, animals like coyote, gray foxes and black-tailed jackrabbits were seen returning to the area, spotted by grid of motion-sensor camera traps that Brashares’ lab has operated since 2016 at the HREC, a multidisciplinary research and education facility located on the banks of the Russian River about 13 miles south of Ukiah.BB
Read more and see photos at Hidden cameras spot wildlife returning home after 2018 megafire | Berkeley News
Posted in Animals | Tags: wildlife returning home after fire
The Guardian reports
A series of sightings suggests the big cats are, against the odds, growing in numbers in New Mexico and Arizona. But Trump’s border wall could yet halt their progress
See images and read more ‘I was thrilled and shocked’: images raise hopes of return of wild jaguars to the US | Endangered species | The Guardian
NPR reports
For decades, the number of California sea otters cratered. But they’ve been making a comeback — and are helping curb erosion along the coast by eating the crabs that accelerate it.
Read more or listen at Sea otters are making a comeback in California — and they’re curbing erosion : NPR
Posted in Animals, Environment | Tags: Sea Otters
The Great Basin Institute (GBI) is working cooperatively with the National Park Service (NPS) at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (WHIS) to recruit 6 Vegetation Technicians that will work with NPS staff to conduct surveys and implement management strategies for rare and invasive plants. The work will focus on a variety of objectives that contribute to a multi-year effort to promote native vegetation recovery and plant conservation in a post-fire environment at WHIS. The crew’s season will run from early-April to mid-October. The crew will work outdoors in a variety of environmental conditions (heat, cold, insects, etc.). Training and support will be provided for all duties.
Read more and learn how apply at AmeriCorps: Vegetation Technician (Whiskeytown NRA) – CNPS Forums
Posted in Job Openings | Tags: Job Openings
The Cool Down reports
The project is a multi-stage, four-year plan — and it isn’t coming a moment too soon.
Read article at Major grant approved to help survival of endangered butterflies in California: ‘A victory for the butterfly’
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: Endangered California Butterflies
Gardens Illustrated reports
Winners of the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition 17, for 2024, have been announced, with June Sharpe taking the Overall Winner spot for her photo entitled ‘Birdscape’ from the 7IM Abstract Views category.
See photos and read more at International Garden Photographer of the Year winners announced
Posted in Garden, Photography | Tags: International Garden Photographer
| Sat, 2/10: Shollenberger Park, Petaluma Wetlands Alliance Sun, 2/11: Family Walk at Indian Tree, Marin Parks Sat, 2/17: China Camp, San Rafael, Friends of China Camp Sat, 2/17: Owl Presentation at China Camp, All About Owls Tues, 2/20: Backyard Birds Lecture & Walk, Inverness Library, Marin Parks Sat, 2/24: Ellis Creek, Petaluma Wetlands Alliance Weds, 2/28: Tomales Bay State Park, Marin Audubon Sat, 3/2: Mount Tam and Corte Madera Marsh, Marin Audubon Many of the free, public bird walks from Marin Audubon and Marin Parks require advance registration and fill up early – check out their calendars in advance to reserve your spot. |
Posted in Birds, Walks & Hikes | Tags: Upcoming Marin and Sonoma Nature Walks
Photographed in the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park in Berkeley, CA on February 6, 2024.
Natural History Wanderings 