Photo by Cleve Nash:                        Bobcat

Photo by Cleve Nash:                        Bobcat

Photo by Alan Schmierer:     Snowy Egrets

A Bird's Eye View by Mike Stiles

If a birder wants to check off every bird in North America, eventually he or she must come to central California for the Yellow-billed Magpie. This month we will discuss this beautiful and fascinating bird, found nowhere else in the world.  Read More

A Sense of Place: Your California State Parks

My entire immediate family is standing on the edge of a canyon located on my family's ranch. It's nearly sunset. My mother asks each of us to take a handful of my father's ashes and spread them on the edge. We do. She wants some of the ashes to blow over the cliff, and we all take a collective gasp as she steps right up to the edge of rocky ledge. The wind carries the remainder into the void and immediately a huge bird flys up out of the canyon. Some of us see a crow. Some of us see a hawk. My mom turns to us, amazed, hopeful "Do you think that was Dad's spirit?"   Read More

Eye on the Estuary by the Morro Bay National Estuary Program

Sorry - taking a break - back next month.

Marine Sanctuaries by Carol Georgi

San Luis Obispo County is a coastal economy and home to many who depend on the ocean's resources. As we watch the loss of livelihoods and destruction of coastal waters and marine life caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, we need to take action to protect ourselves and our coastal waters. Read More

Ocean Creatures

We almost lost the brown pelican. According to Pelican Life.org pelicans were threatened by the use of DDT as a pesticide before the 1970's. This pesticide greatly affected the calcium metabolism of pelicans, causing their eggshells to become thinner and more fragile. Their population decreased so dramatically that in 1970, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the brown pelican as endangered. As a result, the Environmental Protection Agency banned the use of DDT in the United States and the pelicans began to recover. Read More

State Parks Events

A visit to the Central Coast of California is not complete without a stop at the Museum of Natural History in Morro Bay State Park. See What Else Is Happening

Photo by Kevin Cole:      
F emale Elephant Seals in dispute over space

Great Egret image on banner by Mike Baird