May 28, 2020

May 27 Nature Neighbor - Butterfly

Butterflies are a sure sign of summer, after they've gone through many stages to emerge as fluttering creatures. As you walk around your yard or neighborhood, see if you can take a photo of them resting on flowers or fluttering overhead.

Posted on May 28, 2020 02:52 AM by debkccb debkccb | 2 comments | Leave a comment

April 30, 2020

April 30 Nature Neighbor - birds of prey!

Our nature neighbors today are birds of prey! Urban birds of prey in the Bay Area include red-tailed hawk and red-shouldered hawk that feed mainly on small mammals, and Cooper’s hawk that feeds mainly on birds.

Posted on April 30, 2020 11:58 PM by merav merav | 14 comments | Leave a comment

April 29, 2020

April 29 Nature Neighbor - something yellow!

For our nature challenge today, try and find something yellow! Do you have any yellow flowers in your yard? Bees covered with yellow pollen? A yellow bird or butterfly? A lichen??

Posted on April 29, 2020 08:13 PM by merav merav | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 28, 2020

April 28 Nature Neighbor - ducks!

Our nature neighbors today are ducks! Common ducks, such as mallards, might visit your neighborhood occasionally, but most ducks are found in permanent water bodies, such as creeks, ponds, and the San Francisco Bay. Do you see any ducks on your morning walk?

Posted on April 28, 2020 06:54 PM by merav merav | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 27, 2020

April 27 Nature Neighbor - leaf miners and galls!

Our nature neighbors today are leaf miners and galls! For our last day of the City Nature Challenge, we would like to focus on other under-represented groups of insects: leaf miners and gall inducers. Easy challenge: leaf miner. They are usually either moths or flies, and are found on many plants. Please take photos of both sides of the leaf, and add the plant itself. Hard challenge: galls. They are induced by many arthropods, such as flies and wasps, on different parts of the plant. Take photos of the gall and the plant.

Posted on April 27, 2020 03:49 PM by merav merav | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 26, 2020

April 26 Nature Neighbor - plants!

Our nature neighbors today are plants - but not just any plants. On iNaturalist, we prefer not to have cultivated plants, but we are interested in any plants that weren’t planted by people. We are very interested in learning more about non-native plant spread, and in native plants that grow naturally in urban habitats. Easy challenge - weeds, hard - native plants that weren’t planted.

Posted on April 26, 2020 04:31 PM by merav merav | 2 comments | Leave a comment

April 25, 2020

April 25 Nature Neighbor - butterflies and moths!

Our nature neighbors today are butterflies and moths! For the second day of the City Nature Challenge, let’s focus on another under-represented group. There are probably many undocumented species of butterflies and moths in the urban environment. For an easy challenge, look for butterflies around native flowers. For a hard one, set a moth light in your balcony or yard at night. It could be as simple as a white t-shirt and a flashlight, or a white sheet with a UV light if you’ve got one!

Posted on April 25, 2020 08:37 PM by merav merav | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 24, 2020

April 24 Nature Neighbor - snails and slugs!

Our nature neighbors today are snails and slugs! For the first day of the City Nature Challenge, let’s try and find one of our least documented groups in the Bay Area. Can you find native snails and slugs in your neighborhood?
For our easy challenge - find any snail or slug around your home.
For the hard challenge - find a native one!

Also - this is the 1st day of the City Nature Challenge - join the Bay Area project here - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2020-san-francisco-bay-area

Posted on April 24, 2020 04:05 PM by merav merav | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 23, 2020

April 23 Nature Neighbor - woodpeckers!

Our nature neighbors today are woodpeckers! What kinds of woodpeckers live in your neighborhood? Can you see them, or only hear them? If you would like to record a woodpecker, you can take a photo of the bird, record its unique pecking sound, look for a feather, or take a photo of its feeding marks on wood. You can upload any of these to iNaturalist.

Posted on April 23, 2020 05:55 PM by merav merav | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 22, 2020

Happy Earth Day - our nature neighbors today are bees!

In addition to the very common, but non-native western honey bees, there are over 1,500 native bee species in California. Our native bees are important pollinators, and they depend on a healthy ecosystem. We can help them by providing diverse nesting places for them, such as bee hotels.

Posted on April 22, 2020 04:09 PM by merav merav | 6 comments | Leave a comment

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