Berkeleyside’s wildfire guide: Everything you need to know to prepare for and survive wildfires
Preparation advice, evacuation guidance and answers to your questions about air quality, power outages and defending your property.
Nature
Top Stories
Berkeley schools sow the seeds of climate progress with ‘pocket forests’
Elementary students asked how they could do their part to stop climate change. A year later, their science teacher had an answer: micro-forests.
Grinnell, UC Berkeley’s male falcon, returns to Campanile, but will he have to fight for Annie’s love?
What happens next is anyone’s guess. Annie, his longtime mate, is paired up with Grinnell’s attacker and a fight could ensue.
Burrowing owls are back again in Cesar Chavez Park
Two of the rare ground-dwelling owls have been spotted at the northeast corner of the park in recent weeks.
East Bay Regional Park District
What to do about Jewel Lake? Leave it, dredge it or route the creek around it?
With sediment building up, the future of the Tilden Park lake is now being decided.
Coyote bounty earns reproach for Berkeley man whose cat got eaten
Coyote sightings are flooding social media, though pet killings are down this year in Berkeley. Many wildlife experts agree: Coyotes will adapt, and we’ll have to learn to live with them.
Hungry deer, shrinking ponds, speeding golf balls: the drought’s toll around Berkeley
Strawberry Creek and the city’s trees are doing OK, but Lake Anza is unswimmable, turtles are getting run over by cars and wild pigs may be moving in.
Wildlife
A wellness check for Tilden’s Western pond turtles
Max Lambert and a team of wildlife experts are checking in on the health of Western pond turtles living in Jewel Lake.
Chirps and quirks: Meet 6 common birds of Berkeley
In advance of the first-ever Berkeley Bird Festival on Oct. 17, six writers tell tales of their favorite local avian species.
UC Berkeley’s 3 falcon brothers now have names
The brothers are growing “contour” or “body” feathers that cover their down and make them aerodynamic in flight.
Related stories
Berkeley neighbors fight to save their community garden
In 2004, a group of neighbors were given permission to garden on two empty lots along Ashby Avenue. With one of the lots up for sale, they’re rallying to save their garden.
A falcon ‘soap opera’: As Grinnell heals, Annie courts his rival
Will Annie recognize and welcome Grinnell back? Or will a new male, one of the falcons that likely attacked Grinnell, become her new mate?
UC Berkeley’s male peregrine is injured by rival falcons
Grinnell was found injured southeast of campus on Friday following a fight with a pair of peregrine falcons and is being treated at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek.
Berkeley Marina’s last full-time salmon fisherman plans to abandon the sea
With the drought and other factors placing Chinook salmon populations in peril, Mike Hudson is quitting the commercial fishing business after 25 years.
First-ever Berkeley Bird Festival celebrates avians with poetry, songs and chalk art
UC Berkeley’s resident peregrine falcons, Annie and Grinnell, appear to have helped inspire support for the citywide festival.
First Person: Ode to the last tall tree in our Berkeley neighborhood
The 100-foot-high Monterey pine stood in her Central Berkeley neighborhood — until it was taken down.
