Bay Island Nature

A dramatic rendering of Orion pursuing Taurus from Johannes Hevelius , a 17th c. Polish astronomer and brewer who compiled the most comprehensive star atlas at that time. ( Wikimedia image ) From my backyard after dark, I if I look over the camellia bush, neighbor’s fence, past the power pole, and up into the night sky I can see stars bright enough to shine through the urban night glare. I can go out and watch the moon rise and the planets in their succession and timing. As I was pondering there the other night, I realized I had a full view of Orion’s famous belt, and part of Taurus the Bull. Just out of view to the west, the Seven Sisters (the Pleiades) fled in front of Taurus and just below Orion’s left heel, his two faithful dogs trailed, the Big Dog and the Little Dog, Canis Major and Canis Minor. How many of you know these constellations? These were my first constellations I could reliably identify beyond the Big Dipper. They are prominent in the southern winter

Ginkgo trees in Japan ( Wikimedia/Douglas P. Perkins ) I'm happy to wrap up the year with a guest blog on my friend, Martha Slavin's blogsite, "Postcards in the Air." Ginkgo trees are some of my favorite species, especially in late fall and early winter when their green, fan-shaped leaves change from green to bright yellow-gold before they cascade off to the ground. Check out the blog at Postcards in the Air .

Egret by Ginny Parsons, mixed media We set off in our buoyant, little crafts, intrepid paddlers bent on a morning of enjoying our time together on the clear, calm waters. I brought a knapsack full of my usual kayaking items: binoculars, waterproof camera, water bottle, windbreaker, and snack bar. Other than a water bottle and windbreaker, my friend Ginny traveled light. It was our first time paddling together, and I've mostly paddled as the leader of public programs where you have to be prepared for anything. When you have your own gear and go any time, on any whim, apparently you can pack light. It was a shining, delightful day to be out on the water. Our paddles dipped as we chatted and made our way across San Leandro Bay. I could see rafts of ducks bobbing in the distance and even from this far range made a mental catalog: black with a white spot on the back of neck - surf scoters , dark on each end and light in the middle - scaup , black all over with a white beak - coot

Distinctive White-throated Sparrow (image: Cheepshot/Wikimedia ) We paused at the beginning of our birdwatching outing, just past the gravely start of the trail, at Hayward Regional Shoreline park. The whole class trained our binoculars on the unsuspecting small sparrow hopping around the base of the oak tree with others that looked similar. Its head was stripped with creamy white and black bars and yellow patches near its eyes. Our instructor puzzled over it, recounting how white-crowned  and golden-crowned sparrows - the other species of sparrows in the group -- sometimes hybridized. He encouraged us all to take a close look at the sparrow. It wasn't until later in the evening in an email that he announced that had been our "bird of the day," a bird that comes to the East Bay to winter, but not in great numbers: a White-throated Sparrow ! For me that was a life-list bird, meaning it was the first time I've ever seen and identified one. American Pipit (Ima

Photo by Ian Fieggen, Wikimedia Once in a lifetime is a good reason to pry myself out of bed before dawn and attend a sky show. It was very cold and clear outside at 5am this morning, January 31st. The total eclipse of a Super, Blue moon last occurred in 1866. This coincidence of a Super, Blue, Blood moon eclipse won't happen again until 2037. I first looked out the greenhouse window in the kitchen. The moon is full, but a smudgy shadow of itself. "It's better outside," my husband, Bob, says. Even our 22 year old son staggers out for a brief look, then heads back to bed. I step into the cold, wrapped in my flannel robe and warm slippers. Past the power pole and my neighbors houses, the moon hangs in the western sky, a dusky rose-orange color, lighter in the lower left edges. The eclipse is just entering totality with the earth's shadow fully covering the moon. Raising binoculars, the magnification reveals the details of lunar valleys, craters, and plains, ca

Beautiful surf scoters could be seen in the ocean, below the trail (image from Wikimedia ). We wanted to celebrate the first day of the new year by walking along the Devil's Slide trail. It's been closed to vehicle traffic since the Tom Lantos Tunnels were completed in March 2015. The wide, paved trail, where Highway 1 used to wind high above the Pacific, is the perfect spot for watching sea birds, gazing out to the western horizon for sunsets and migrating gray whales, and hearing the shush of surf breaking endlessly on the beaches below. A lot of other folks had the same idea to enjoy the coastal trail on New Year's Day, so we had to exercise patience to wait for a parking spot. It's a fairly short trail segment, only 1.3 miles each way, though, so we didn't have to wait too long for people to return to their car. It'd be nice if there were double the spots in each parking lot at each end of the tunnels. Panoramic vistas along the trail (image

The trees shone in the morning sun with ferns in the shady canyon. The cool morning air was a relief after the last few days of temperatures that soared to 90 degrees. After the long, rainy winter, the heat spike engulfed the Bay Area like an environmental hot flash. So Adventure Dog and I set out to check on Spring's progress at Redwood Regional Park in the Oakland Hills. My faithful companion, always ready for adventure! Following Bridle Trail from the Fish Ladder along Redwood Creek, a few muddy patches showed we were on the shady side of the canyon with redwoods just ahead of us. The stream bounded along, burbling and gushing over the rocks and bouncing down the concrete fish ladder. A historical marker commemorates the naming of rainbow trout by Dr. William P. Gibbons, founder of the California Academy of Science, from this creek in 1855. They've since been introduced worldwide. Rainbow trout are anadromous fish, migrating after they hatch and grow in freshwate