Until this week, I didn’t know how much gratitude I owed Mr. Hulet Hornbeck. The sign below marks the head of a commemorative trail at Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline — a park in the vast and lovely East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). When Hornbeck began his tenure as Chief of Land Acquisition for EBRPD…
A Turkey-Friendly Thanksgiving
Several years ago, Hugh and I started our new Thanksgiving tradition of adopting a turkey from Farm Sanctuary. We’ve always been urban dwellers, so adoption beyond our beautiful kitty isn’t an option. But, Farm Sanctuary offers remote adoptions of their rescued turkey folk. Although Farm Sanctuary has a reasonably high profile through their advocacy work…
Bay & Beach Flotsam: Hayward Shoreline
Capturing the flotsam tossed around on San Francisco Bay — this episode shot in a small beach cove at Hayward Shoreline. Check out Bay & Beach Flotsam #3 for more info on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Reclaimed: Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds
Reclamation is among my favorite themes — especially as it pertains to nature. I root for the vines overtaking fire hydrants and windblown seeds germinating new habitat in former refuse sites…
Bay & Beach Flotsam: Why Coastal Cleanup Days Are Critical
It was the best of the beach and the not-so-best of the beach. The best — luminous in color and texture, with Brown Pelicans, porpoises and whales gliding parallel to the shore. The not-so-best, well — that was the inspiration for Bay & Beach Flotsam, Episode 3. We had just found two dead sea lions…
Yellow Star Thistle and the Reticular Activating System
Invasive plants and motivational seminars collide in my world. If you’ve ever attended a goal-generating seminar, you’ve probably heard the term Reticular Activating System (RAS) tossed around. It’s used in motivational circles to describe our physiological capacity to pay attention. The RAS is part of a large network in our nervous systems, controlling consciousness, sensory…
The Goldfinch and Thistle (A Pub With No Pints)
The Bay Area has a thistle problem, or so we hear, but goldfinches weren’t complaining on our hike yesterday. Here’s a photo of that Artichoke Thistle (Cynara cardunculus), taken last week in Tilden Park: And a few photos taken in Briones, where ongoing eradication has taken out bunches of the Artichoke Thistle in the grasslands:…
Dawn Cleans Oiled Birds
This post relates to the oiled bird photos and info below. Dawn launched a new campaign that will contribute up to $500,000.00 to IBRRC (International Bird Rescue Research Center) and the Marine Mammal Center. For each bottle of Dawn Special Edition dishwashing liquid sold, $1 will be donated to the cause (up to the 500k…
The “Three U” Rule of Hazardous Materials
Hugh and I just got our initial Hazwopercertification — a Federal OSHA requirement if we want to assist with bird rescue in oil spill areas. That, combined with a wildlife rescue training course we took back in March, will at least put us on the call list during catastrophic wildlife events. During the Cosco Busan…
Attack of the Giant Fish People
I saw these gigantic creatures slithering through the shallows — whipping up mud with each slap of the tail. They looked like radioactive versions of pond koi, ranging from about two to four feet long. And where I was, it was just me and and wind and the sound of their slither, evoking the Creature…
