By Aniko Drlik-Muehleck California is a dry place-- in the Bay Area, we go for months without precipitation. But despite this fact, Bay Area residential landscapes have something in common with wetter parts of the country: the lawn. It's lush, green, and incredibly water-intensive. During our extensive dry season, lawns either guzzle hundreds of gallons of water per day or turn brown. If you're unsatisfied with your water bill, tired of struggling against your lawn's inevitable wilting, or simply interested in preserving our precious water supply for more pressing uses, this summer is …
What’s in Your Watershed? | The Regal Red-tailed Hawk
By Joanna Hoffman If you keep an eye on the clouds, you're bound to see a Red-tailed hawk soaring and screeching across the Bay's blue skies. Red-tailed hawks are the most common member of the genus Buteo found in North America. They seek out open fields, perch on telephones poles, and wait patiently to strike at unsuspecting rodents. Over time, Red-tailed hawks have evolved to inhabit a wider range of territories. They are found in human environments, tropical rainforests, and out in the middle of the plains. Wherever a squirrel, mouse, or other juicy morsel resides, a Red-tailed …
What’s in Your Watershed? | Wonderful Wildflowers
By Joanna Hoffman Wildflowers are abundant in California from February through July. Flowers bloom at different times during these months. They first appear in the desert, shocking the brown and barren landscape with vibrancy and life. Later on towards June and July, wildflowers grace the Sierras with yellow, red and blue in a melange of beauty and overpowering scent. Wildflowers grow in the cracks of sidewalks all over the Bay Area, shoot up across marshlands and beaches, and appear in almost any place they find an opportunity to access some water, soil, sun, and means of …
What’s in Your Watershed? | The Dancing Western Grebe
By Andrew LaBar The San Francisco Bay Area is a diverse and vibrant community. Not only is it home to nearly seven million brilliant and unique individuals, but it also supports an equally impressive array of wildlife. From birds to butterflies to cougars to deer, many animals are permanent residents of our bay shorelines and rich watersheds. As humans, we are lucky to live in a place where bird calls can be heard over car horns, where we can spend our Saturdays at a local park, losing track of time as we watch a Great Blue Heron silently stalk its prey. We celebrate these animals for …
What’s in Your Watershed? | Red-coated Harbor Seals
By Diana Dunn Deep greens envelop hillsides and wildflowers splash vibrant colors across the blooming Bay Area landscape. The revitalizing powers of spring are not limited to dry land, however. Dramatic transformations are occurring in our local marine environment as well; just consider the harbor seals. March is a hectic month for these captivating pinnipeds. It marks the beginning of pupping season in the Bay Area, which is when female harbor seals give birth. Body Structure and Locomotion Harbor seals are often confused with their thunderous cousin, the sea lion. One …
What’s in your Watershed? | Wriggling Earthworms
By Johanna Hoffman With all the rain we've been having in the Bay Area lately, earthworms moving aboveground will soon be a common sight. These valuable animals emerge from their earthen homes when excessive rainfall threatens to drown them out. Although there are many species of earthworms all across the globe, it's those of the Sparganophilus that we see around the San Francisco Bay. Body Structure and Locomotion Earthworms have a segmented body structure shaped like a tube. With a moist outer coating, their segmented body parts get more specialized in the anterior sections. They are …
What’s in Your Watershed? | The Plunging Brown Pelican
By Andrew LaBar On a recent walk along Limantour Beach at Point Reyes National Seashore, a place close to my heart, I witnessed something truly special. About one hundred feet off the shoreline, seven California brown pelicans were orchestrating an amazing diving display in search of food. Abruptly, in rapid succession, these large birds would stop their flapping, twist their bodies to face straight down, and plunge with heavy intensity straight into the waves, beaks slightly open, to catch the unsuspecting fish below. Physical Appearance The California brown pelican (Pelecanus …
What’s in Your Watershed? | The California Coast Range Newt
By Madeleine Foote When the winter rains come, we humans tend to remain inside, but for the California Coast Range Newt, the rains are a signal to leave their summer homes and move to the water. If you are lucky enough to see one this season, be content with just looking. One of five salamander species in California, this newt's skin produces a highly toxic poison called tetrodotoxin that can cause respiratory and cardiac failure. Physical Appearance The average California Coast Range Newt is 5-8 inches long, with a stocky, muscular body and legs that bend downward at the elbows. …
