Walking along Morro Strand I hear high-pitched screeches in the sky. I turn and see a cluster of terns wheeling onto shore. Sixty or more settle their white bodies onto... read more →
Palm trees in the ocean? Surely you jest! Nope-just a different type of palm-a seaweed one. Postelsia palmaeformis, the sea palm, is a dead ringer for a land-type palm tree. It lives in the... read more →
Sandcastles? Worms? These go together? Well, sandcastles are not just for kids. The sandcastle worm, Phragmatopoma californica lives in massive sand formations on rocks in the mid intertidal area. You... read more →
These are one of the larger wasps in the world with females getting up to two inches in length and having large blue-black muscular bodies with bright orange wings. Quite... read more →
I’m lucky to live near Morro Strand, so most mornings find me striding along the beach, binoculars at hand ready for anything that comes into view. A few days ago... read more →
Photo by Linda Tanner The tarantulas are showing up on the central coast. From mid-July on through November you have a chance of seeing one of these large, hairy spiders... read more →
Photo by Jerry Kirkhart Have you noticed those rather large, shiny black beetles crawling around your yard? Many people call them “stink bugs,” but they aren’t the real stink bugs. ... read more →
We’ve had a new treat on the Central Coast in the past few years--glowing blue waves!!! The glow is caused by wave action that disturbs millions of microalgae called dinoflagellates,... read more →
Rachel Carson said, “Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life." Back in 1979 I was a mom with 2... read more →
I am not a professional botanist; however, I have always had a fascination for botanics. As a biology major of Cal Poly, I took several botany classes with Dr. Kiel... read more →