The Science Behind Nature - in Layperson Speak
Pollinators – birds, bats, bees and butterflies – are critical. They pollinate over 200,000 of the world’s flowering plants, including 80% of our food plants. The genetic material they transfer allows seeds to form, which continue the species.
Kurt Leushner, a popular professor at the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, highlighted our local pollinators at a recent horticulture meeting.
Below are some of his highlights [Read more...]
In 2010, Carol Blaney moved with her family to the Inland Empire from Yosemite National Park, where as an interpretive park ranger she worked with Yosemite’s stunning scenery as her backdrop. The transition was helped when Blaney came across Redland’s Oakmont Park – she felt she had discovered a wild place. [Read more...]
As mentioned in a previous post, we’ve seen some coyotes in our Southern California residential area recently. One was feasting on a dead squirrel as we drove by late one night; two others were documented on the night camera set up in the alley behind our house. Having grown up in the Chicago suburbs and never hearing a coyote howl until I moved west, I like the sound that reminds me of our coexistence with wildlife.
This article has two purposes: one is sharing what I’ve learned about how to react when I see coyotes in our neighborhood. The other is about a planned coyote hunt in California (2/12 update: see below) [Read more...]
One thing Redlands resident Brenda Wolfe definitely didn’t expect after she converted her former landscape, primarily composed of a not-so-healthy lawn and an oleander hedge, to a low-water one. “I’ve learned I need to close the blinds in the bathroom. I’m not used to having people standing out front. [Read more...]
My goal is to educate about the science of nature in layperson speak, through my writing, science and education background. I grew up in the Chicago area, loved living in Minneapolis before gravitating to the West, which is now home. The search for … [Read More...]
