Nature's Corner

Lichen can’t be discussed without talking about cohabitation — two partners living in one space. In this case, it’s on the surface of rocks...

Every spring for the past two decades, citizen scientists Ann McBride and Patty Evans have monitored egg counts in 50 bluebird boxes they had placed in Martis Valley and the Kyburz Meadow area. “You never know what you’ll find in the boxes — it’s like Christmas,” says McBride. While this labor of love requires tenacity and hard work, Evans wouldn’t have it any other way. She adds, “It’s magical every year.”

The Douglas squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii), aka the chickaree, aka the animal that “Peterson Field Guide Mammals of North America” calls “the noisy little squirrel...

They live quietly among us, but how much do we really know about California’s black bears? In her latest column, Nature’s Corner writer Eve Quesnel chats with the “Bear Whisperer.”

The mink, the river otter, and the beaver are all to be found in the lakes and rivers of the Sierra Nevada. Eve Quesnel tells how to recognize which is which in this month’s Nature’s Corner.

Have you ever been walking through the woods when you suddenly stumble upon a random colossal rock? They’re called erratics, and Nature’s Corner columnist Eve Quesnel shares their origin story.

Every winter, it glazes over windshields and sparkles like diamonds on the branches of trees and shrubs. There are many kinds of frost, but two are most common. Do you know how to tell them apart?