Breaking News Archives | Page 130 of 248

California Sycamores

by Melanie Schlotterbeck on April 21, 2020 with No Comments

The California sycamore tree can quickly grow to be a large, tall tree (up to 40-100′ when full grown). The leaves are large, thick and often green with three to five lobes. Their leaves have small hairs, which is an adaptation for our Mediterranean climate. The hairs help provide relief from the sun, keeping the leaves cool and allowing them to retain moisture. Sometimes you’ll see hairy, brown seed balls about one inch thick–this is the tree’s fruit. The bark … Read More

Online iNaturalist Challenge

by Melanie Schlotterbeck on April 20, 2020 with No Comments

Looking for something “nature-y” and complies with the stay-at-home orders? Check out the City Nature Challenge. Participate in this global event from home next weekend. Simply download the iNaturalist app and start uploading your photo observations today. You can check the status of your competition area online HERE: https://www.inaturalist.org/proj…/city-nature-challenge-2020

Bird Identification

by Melanie Schlotterbeck on April 17, 2020 with No Comments

Size: Ravens are larger than crows.Buddies: Ravens often travel in pairs, while crows are seen in larger groups.Tail Feathers: Raven’s have longer tail feathers in the middle of the tail, while a crow’s tail feathers are basically the same length. (Remember the phrase Round Raven, Square Crow)Calls: Raven’s make a lower croaking sound, while crows make a cawing sound.Beaks: Raven’s have shaggy throat feathers and a large, heavy and curved beak, while crows have a slimmer sharp pointy beak. Now … Read More

Cougar Now a Candidate Species

by Melanie Schlotterbeck on April 16, 2020 with No Comments

A video/conference call/live stream meeting started at 9:30 this morning. The agenda item we were waiting for was #32 (of 33). The item began at 3:45, with comments starting around 4:30. Our item ended at 5:53. Who hangs on a call for more than six hours? We do. Why? Because the California Fish and Game Commission was considering the fate of the sub-species of the California Mountain Lion in our area. The process for listing a species under the California … Read More

The Pandemic & Saving Nature

by Melanie Schlotterbeck on April 15, 2020 with No Comments

This article identifies four key ways to prevent this type of massive pandemic from happening again. It includes: ensuring supplies of medical equipment, having adequate testing, banning the wildlife trade, and saving nature. This article identifies four key ways to prevent this type of massive pandemic from happening again. It includes: ensuring supplies of medical equipment, having adequate testing, banning the wildlife trade, and saving nature. Every day we are trying to be creative as to how we save lands… … Read More