Instinct does play a role in nest-building, but so much more seems to be involved. Entwined with instinct are reason, ...

Tiny by volcano standards. The Sutter Buttes are 10 miles wide and poke up 2,000 feet. In classic butte fashion, they are ...

We’re surrounded by a world of insects that we barely notice. Put on your goggles and get immersed in the riot of colors and ...

With plainfin midshipmen, black-tailed jackrabbits, black-headed grosbeaks, and yellow-faced bumblebees. Life in spring ...

With a little luck we have all found that person, or group of persons, who are regularly game to join, or plan, our outdoor ...

To the uninformed, they might look like giant puddles left behind by the last winter storm. But the 20 visitors gathered on the lower slopes of Sonoma Mountain on an overcast morning in early March ...

For 25 years, Bay Nature has connected people to the natural world of the San Francisco Bay Area—inspiring curiosity, stewardship, and action. Now it’s time to celebrate what this community has built ...

We were trying to figure out the last creek we could get water from before starting our climb. My best friend Holly and I were on the John Muir Trail, the 211-mile route between Yosemite and Mount ...

State Route 12 cut to the horizon line of Solano County. Somewhere out of sight lay the small town of Rio Vista and the Delta. But about an hour northeast of San Francisco, midway through southern ...

A mom and pup in the wild. Southern sea otters were hunted out for their furs, and are making a comeback in central California with human help. (Photo by Erin Underwood) In a small kitchen inside the ...

A crow funeral can happen at any time. Farmers bear witness after shooting unwanted crows in their fields. Powerline workers see them should an unlucky bird zap itself and drop. Occasionally, the ...

Rocky outcroppings and serpentine barrens in the southern Diablo Range, near San Benito Mountain. Joaquín Murieta, both literary hero and historical figure, thrived in California’s rugged Inner Coast ...