One of my favorite things about living on the Central Coast is the accessibility to and beauty of our beaches. I love being able to easily drive from any part... read more →
Last month during a low tide on the day of the full moon, Faylla Chapman and a few of our friends visited the Morro Bay mudflats. We came upon an... read more →
Say the name “rat” and a nasty, sneaky Norwegian stow-away rat comes to mind. Erase that image and imagine a multicolor, fur-coated, big eared rodent with a fuzzy tail as... read more →
Every walk on Morro Strand State Beach is an adventure. On December 24 while strolling along looking at birds I noticed some most unusual organisms at my feet. Dozens of... read more →
Have you seen markings in the sand that look like these? Do you just ignore them or explore further? Well—you SHOULD explore! Hole and Snail. Image courtesy of Faylla Chapman... read more →
So much more than a delicate wildflower, this plant deserves its four names: ‘wavy leaf soap plant,” “soap root,” “amole,” and Chlorogalum pomeridianum or “afternoon blooming green milk.” And it’s... read more →
Butterflies are a little different from moths: Image courtesy of wildpollinatorcount.com Butterflies are usually brightly colored and are active during the day. Their antennae are usually long and thin, ending... read more →
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 →
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 →