Photos taken May 5th, 2013 *** Weekly Photo Challenge: Pattern Continue reading »
Tag Archives: animals
Wordless Wednesday: Butterfly
Photo taken April 27th, 2013 Redwood Regional Park, Oakland Continue reading »
Silent Saturday: Meerkat
Meerkat, Oakland Zoo Photo taken April 26th, 2013 Continue reading »
Backyard Fence: Squirrel
Our three-legged buddy is healthy and hanging out more than ever… Photos taken April 23rd, 2013 Continue reading »
Llamas: Redwood Regional Park
Ever wanted to learn how to groom, feed, lead, and interact with llamas?? You can take a class through East Bay Regional Parks and take a walk through the redwoods. During our bike ride earlier this week (Kid Bike Ride: Redwood Regional Park), the kids stopped to watch this, a line of people walking with … Continue reading »
Signs of Spring: The Return of the Turkeys
Early yesterday morning, my son ran into the living room and screamed, “The turkeys are back! Come look at them all!” Sure enough, there was a gang of ten or so, walking across the hill behind our home. The turkeys can be seen around Dublin throughout the winter, but only return to our neighborhood in … Continue reading »
Neighborhood Wildlife: Squirrel (Three-Legged)
I often wonder what happened to his leg… I first noticed it missing a few weeks ago. Photos taken February 14th, 2013 Continue reading »
Neighborhood Wildlife: Young Buck
My son excitedly informed me yesterday afternoon that there was a boy deer on the hill behind our home. The buck was in no hurry to leave, giving me plenty of time to snap some photos. My son is sick (again), so he stayed home from school yesterday and today. Luckily, the neighborhood wildlife has … Continue reading »
Neighborhood Wildlife: Deer
A deer grazing on the hill behind our home, enjoying the warm, sunny day… Photos taken February 12th, 2013 Continue reading »
Animal Fun / Fauna / Museums
Beautiful Butterflies: California Academy of Sciences
Photos taken January 29th, 2013 Rainforests of the World California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco Continue reading »
Backyard Wildlife: Neighborhood Squirrel
Happy Sunday! Our Neighborhood Squirrel Photos taken January 19th, 2013 Continue reading »
Animal Tracks: Mountain Lion?
Large print, no claw marks… Photo taken January 5th, 2013 Sunol Regional Wilderness Continue reading »
Animal Fun / Fauna / Museums
Sleepy tiger + discount to the Oakland Zoo
During our Christmas Eve visit to the zoo, we mostly ran around and played, but we did check out a few animals along the way. We enjoyed watching this beautiful tiger napping (and waking up) in the warm afternoon sunshine. For anyone in the Bay Area who may be interested, I noticed this morning that … Continue reading »
Weekly Photo Challenge: Surprise
I’ve had two amazing surprises within the past week that, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to capture with my camera. Both were visitors to our backyard. The first was… a fox! He visited Thursday morning at 10:00am, and he it stayed for about five minutes, giving me a lot of time to watch what it was … Continue reading »
Deer on the Hill
It’s been a while since I’ve taken any photos of the deer that graze on the hill behind our home. You may also enjoy: The Baby Deer Another Favorite… The Coyote Continue reading »
Monarch Butterfly Nature Preserve, Natural Bridges State Beach, Santa Cruz
Within Natural Bridges State Beach, in Santa Cruz, you’ll find the Monarch Butterfly Nature Preserve, a grove of eucalyptus trees where thousands of Monarch Butterflies spend the winter each year. The butterflies may be viewed by taking a short 0.75 mile Monarch Trail loop through the Preserve, or by simply taking the short, wheel-chair accessible … Continue reading »
Feed the Animals! Tilden Little Farm, Berkeley
The Tilden Little Farm, located within Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley, is a favorite destination for just about every little kid I know. For over a week now, my five-year-old has been begging me to take him there to feed the animals, so we headed over today. Here’s a little history of the Farm, from … Continue reading »
Acorn Woodpecker, Sunol Regional Wilderness
Wow, I can really see how this bird got its name!! There were four Acorn Woodpeckers busy pecking holes in this tree and filling them with their stash. From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds site… “Their social lives are endlessly fascinating: they store thousands of acorns each year by jamming them into … Continue reading »
Werewolves and Vampires?
While attending Boo at the Zoo over the weekend, we looked for “spooky” animals. Werewolves? Vampires? Unfortunately, we didn’t find anything truly frightening at the Oakland Zoo, but did see this gorgeous hyena (I bet he’d get pretty scary if anyone tried to take that bone away from him!!) and a bunch of cute bats… … Continue reading »
Boo at the Zoo, 2012
Yesterday we attended the annual Boo at the Zoo event at the Oakland Zoo. Kids wear their Halloween costumes and participate in a bunch of fun activities. It was a hot day today (back into the 80′s), so I talked my son out of wearing his thick, black ninja costume. The highlight for my … Continue reading »
Animal Fun / Fauna / Gardens
The Newts are Back
California Newt, Japanese Pond, UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley… Please see… Newts in the Botanical Garden Continue reading »
Project FeederWatch
As I wrote the other day (Let’s Count Stars!), we enjoy participating in citizen science projects. It’s a fun way to contribute to scientific research and learn about science at the same time. I wrote earlier in the week about participating in the Great World Wide Star Count. Perhaps stargazing isn’t your thing, but you’d … Continue reading »
My Love, the Dark-eyed Junco
I have to admit, I’m in love with the Dark-eyed Junco. Not only are these little birds gorgeous, but they do an incredible job of cleaning up all that birdseed the finches drop from the feeder. You may also enjoy… Finch Fun Continue reading »
The Sky Ride, Oakland Zoo
On a busy day at the Oakland Zoo, it’s nice to escape the crowds with a trip on the Sky Ride. The ride take about twenty minutes, with beautiful views of the San Francisco Bay. Some animals can only be seen from here… the herds of elk and bison. They roam the hills behind the … Continue reading »
Oakland Zoo, August 2012
Backyard Wildlife: Mourning Doves
For at least eight summers now, we’ve had a pair mourning dove visiting our backyard. Every year, they have a child. Last year, my son and I were able to watch the parents teach the baby to fly. So cute! They showed up just a week ago with their child from this summer. I’m sad … Continue reading »
Great Hike: Saddlebag Lake to the Conness Lakes
Now this was a super-fun hike. How many hikes begin with a ride across a lake on a water taxi?? This was a first for our son… he’s never been on a boat! The views from the lake were gorgeous. My husband and I love hiking above the 10,000 foot level (the trail starts at … Continue reading »
Update… Backyard Squirrel
It’s been a few months since I last posted about the squirrel who visits our backyard. He has not been successful at raiding the bird feeders since I last wrote, but he’s still thinking about it! Here’s my post from May … Backyard Wildlife… The Squirrel Continue reading »
At Home / Biology / Fun Books / Outdoor Education / Tips / View from Home
Connect with Nature: Find Your Sit Spot
I’m currently reading the book, What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World, by Jon Young, which is about awakening our awareness of the behavior of birds in order to deepen our connection with all the wildlife surrounding us. Ultimately, the author is helping us to reconnect with our own … Continue reading »
The Randall Museum, San Francisco
The Randall Museum in San Francisco was created to be a place where children can handle, see, and learn about animals and other living things through hands-on experiences, as well as be exposed to different kinds of arts and crafts. The museum has no entry fee, though memberships are offered to provide a discount on … Continue reading »
