Registration closes noon on 1/23
This is one of the major Birding and Wildlife events in the state of California. Every year new trips, exhibits and workshops are added, making it a rich opportunity for wildlife education, exploration and adventure.
— Read on snowgoosefestival.org/
Posted in Bird Festivals, Birds | Tags: Snow Goose Festival
The Revelator reports
By providing both mitigation and adaption, dam removal can lower greenhouse gas emissions and restore carbon sinks.
Read more Why Dam Removal Is a Climate Solution • The Revelator
Posted in Environment | Tags: Dam removal
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 New York Times reports
In the unequal distribution of birds and other species, ecologists are tracing the impact of bigoted urban policies adopted decades ago.
At a meeting of urban wildlife researchers in Washington, D.C., in June, one diagram made it into so many PowerPoint presentations that its recurrence became a running joke. The subject, though, was serious: The diagram illustrated the links between structural racism, pernicious landscape features such as urban heat islands, and impacts to biodiversity, and it came from a study published in the fall of 2020 in the journal Science.
That study was “Ecological and evolutionary consequences of systemic racism in urban environments,”
Read more at Why Warblers Flock to Wealthier Neighborhoods
Posted in Birds | Tags: bigoted urban policies, urban wildlife, warblers
ScienceAlert reports
A leading expert on sperm whales has gathered the evidence and shown that the biggest-brained animals on Earth form large and complex clans with unique dialects and behaviors.
read on at https://www.sciencealert.com/sperm-whales-live-in-huge-distinct-clans-spread-across-the-ocean
Posted in Animals | Tags: Sperm Whales
We are Hiring — Jug Handle Farm
— Read on www.jughandlecreekfarm.org/we-are-hiring
Posted in Job Openings | Tags: Job Opening
Science Alert reports
The lush, volcanic hills of Sulawesi in Indonesia are home to several species of fanged frogs with unusual reproductive habits, including Limnonectes larvaepartus – the only species of frog in the world known to give birth to live tadpoles.
Now, this tropical island has revealed another one of its secrets: the world’s smallest frog with fangs.
Related to the other fanged frog species, the newly found Limnonectes phyllofolia is a traditional amphibian egg layer.
Read more World’s Tiniest Fanged Frog Species Found Lurking in The Indonesian Jungle : ScienceAlert
Posted in Animals | Tags: Limnonectes phyllofolia, World's Tiniest Fanged Frog
From S F Gate
Hundreds of rare, blazing orange butterflies are slated to be released in Northern California over the next two years, marking a victory for conservationists working tirelessly to restore them across the region.
Read more at https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/butterfly-release-california-mendocino-coastline-18611671.php
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: blazing orange butterflies, Butterflies
From Science Alert
This year marks a once in a lifetime event in the mysterious world of periodical cicadas: the simultaneous emergence of two separate broods in the US, a rare phenomenon that last occurred in 1803.
One of the greatest enigmas of the insect world, periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.) live up to 99.5 percent of their lives underground as nymphs, feeding on tree root sap. Some broods wait 13 years to become adults; others wait 17 years.
The dual emergence of these two broods in 2024 marks a rare occasion of their 13 and 17 year life cycles synchronizing. This exciting double event won’t happen again until 2245.
— Read on www.sciencealert.com/rare-event-two-cicada-broods-emerge-together-for-first-time-in-221-years
From  Bay Nature
Shorebirds are funny-looking things. With those long skinny legs and long skinny necks and bills, sometimes they can look like something out of a cartoon. But the life of a shorebird is often far from funny. Those long skinny necks and long skinny bills and legs are important tools for a shorebird’s day-to-day survival.
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Read on baynature.org/article/the-complex-lives-of-overwintering-shorebirds/
Posted in Birds | Tags: Birds, Shorebirds
NPR reports
Scientists have used sniffer dogs and DNA analysis to rediscover a group of De Winton’s golden moles, a seemingly-extinct species that hadn’t been seen in nearly 90 years. The De Winton’s Golden mole was last spotted in 1936. But with the help of a mole-sniffing dog and new environmental DNA analysis, researchers are taking it off the most wanted lost species list.
Read more at A sniffer dog helps rediscover a rare mole : NPR
Posted in Animals | Tags: De Winton's golden moles
The Wayne Roderick Lecture series of free public lectures, on a broad array of topics related to plants and natural history, takes place on Saturday mornings starting at 10:30 AM and begin at the Garden’s Visitor Center auditorium. Directions
Posted in Talks, Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Wayne Roderick Lectures
from Alt National Park Service
Posted in Uncategorized
Defenders of Wildlife report
To counteract the negative impacts from climate change, landowners have the power to support piñon pine growth by increasing watering, mulching and controlling erosion. These actions provide cooler soil and more moisture so piñon pines can produce more seeds. With more seeds, pinyon jays can survive and plant more piñon pines. This upward spiral will ensure a bright future for landowners, plants and animals alike.
Defenders of Wildlife is spreading the word on these simple actions and Southwest landowners can do the same by using this helpful resource guide. Private landowners could end up being the pinyon jays’ salvation, so let’s work together to give these birds their best chance.
Read full article at Private Landowners Protecting Pinyon Jays | Defenders of Wildlife
Posted in Birds | Tags: Pinyon Jays, Pinyon Pines
Manzanita Symposium
February 2, 2024 9:00 – 5:00 Regional Parks Botanic Garden
Regional Parks Botanic Garden Tilden Regional Park This one day symposium will focus on conservation & management of Arctostaphylos species as well as on the diversity and taxonomy of the group. Call for Lightning Talks Do you have an interesting project, study, or story that would like to share in a lightning talk at the symposium? Please RSVP to russhudd@gmail.com if interested in attending the event and note if you would also like to present a five minute lightning talk as part of the symposium. For more information about the Regional Parks Botanic Garden
Posted in Class/Workshop | Tags: Manzanita Symposium
Berkeleyside reports
In the rainy season, tiny salamanders migrate from burrows to ponds, but automobiles pose a big threat to their survival.
Each year when rain starts to fall in the Bay Area, a little-noticed but amazing thing happens. Newts — tiny lizard-looking amphibians — emerge from their burrows under the ground and begin to journey to their mating ponds. The slender creatures need moist air to survive the mini migration and are known to come out in droves when the weather is just right.
Photos from the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden on January 15, 2024.
The Regional Parks Botanic Garden is a living museum of California native plants. Located within Tilden Park in the hills above Berkeley, California, the 10-acre garden is a sanctuary for 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. It is part of the East Bay Regional Parks. Admission and parking are free. For more information about the garden and visiting go to Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden
Posted in Garden, Photos (Sandy's) | Tags: East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Botanic Garden
A 27-Year Wildflower Journey: The Making of an Award-winning Book Spectacular California wildflower photography will be the topic at the January 18 Zoom meeting of the Redbud Audubon Society at 7 p.m.
— Read on http://www.redbudaudubon.org/wildflowers-in-the-midst-of-climate-change/
The Denver Gazette reports
On Wednesday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife shared video footage of a rare animal sighting that Colorado outdoors people are sure to enjoy.
The footage shows two Canada lynx that were spotted moving through the snow in Silverton recently, a sign of success following a reintroduction effort that took place for seven years in the 1990s.
Today, the species is still considered to be federally threatened and state endangered, with around only 150 to 250 lynx calling Colorado home today.
Read more at Rare and often misidentified animal species caught on video in Colorado | outtherecolorado.com
Posted in Animals | Tags: anada lynx
From NPR
Bright Lit Place, a new podcast from member station WLRN tells the story of the long-running effort to undo the damage to the Florida Everglades.
— Read on www.npr.org/2024/01/13/1224635848/podcast-explores-effort-to-restore-florida-everglades
Posted in Environment | Tags: Everglades
from Wild Birds Unlimited
Posted in Birds, Walks & Hikes | Tags: Marin & Sonoma Bird and Nature Walks
The New York Times reports
According to a study published Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, 88 percent of 42 African raptor species have suffered declines over the past 20 to 40 years, and 69 percent are either more endangered than previously thought or now meet criteria for being threatened with extinction.
Read article at Africa’s Birds of Prey Are in Decline, a New Study Finds
Posted in Birds | Tags: Decline African Birds of Prey
Click on each for details:
Posted in Job Openings | Tags: Job Openings
The Desert Sun reports
Popular school and library programs that allow free access to California state parks would lose their funding under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 2023-24 budget, released this week.
The passes are part of a “wildly successful” pilot partnership program begun in 2021 between the state’s parks and libraries, aimed at increasing access to the outdoors for low-income residents and others who often haven’t visited wilderness and other parks in the past, including people of diverse backgrounds who may not have historically felt welcomed.
Read more California budget cuts: Popular state parks program at risk
Posted in Park | Tags: California State Parks
The New York Times reports
A highly lethal form of bird flu that has been spreading across the world has now been detected in a dead polar bear in Alaska. It is the first known case in the Arctic animals, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Read more at First Case of Lethal Bird Flu in Polar Bears Reported in Alaska
Posted in Animals, Uncategorized | Tags: Bird Flu, Polar bear
Posted in Desert, Park | Tags: Death Valley
Posted in Job Openings | Tags: Job Openings
AP News reports
Earth last year shattered global annual heat records, flirted with the world’s agreed-upon warming threshold and showed more signs of a feverish planet, the European climate agency said Tuesday.
The European climate agency Copernicus said the year was 1.48 degrees Celsius (2.66 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. That’s barely below the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit that the world hoped to stay within in the 2015 Paris climate accord to avoid the most severe effects of warming.
Read more at Earth shattered global heat record in ’23 and it’s flirting with warming limit, European agency says | AP News
Posted in Environment | Tags: Climate change, Global warming
from Golden Gate Bird Alliance
For the Love Of Sparrows 1/18
Thursday, January 18 @ 7pm — Ed Harper and Ed Pandalfino
If you still think of sparrows as LBJs (little brown jobs); skulky little drab guys, hard to identify, and generally unexciting…prepare to have your world rocked! The two Eds will take you on a journey through the world of sparrows to reveal the subtle beauty of their plumage and their songs. Along the way, you may pick up some useful ID tips and learn about the unparalleled variety of sparrow song composition.
zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84548626534?pwd=-J2Q477nKndgPiQ5jVTD_8cZgEErug.DrN10AeeQQN7l1jj
Read more at For the Love Of Sparrows – Golden Gate Bird Alliance
Beetles are one of the most diverse groups of insects on the planet and are endlessly fascinating. Join Jennifer Hopwood to learn more about how beetles are helping us in myriad ways, by contributing to soil health, controlling crop and garden pests, pollinating plants; and learn more about steps we can take to help them.
This webinar will be recorded and available on our YouTube channel. Closed Captioning will be available during this webinar. Learn more and register here today!
See all Xerces Society upcoming events at Events | Xerces Society
Posted in Butterflies, Talks | Tags: Xerces Society Events
Natural History Wanderings 