Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). Photo: Elaine Miller Bond Last November, Berkeleyside published an article about a spectacular natural phenomenon seen in Berkeley for the first time: hundreds of monarch butterflies were clustering in the trees of Aquatic Park. This fall, thoughtful reader and independent gardener Toni Cox wrote to Berkeleyside, requesting that we create a […]
Elaine Miller Bond
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Photographer Elaine Miller Bond puts wildlife center stage
Elaine Miller Bond will present her new book, ‘Running Wild,’ Monday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. at Books Inc. in North Berkeley.
Posted inNature
At Pinnacles National Park, the condors fly free
California condors can be curious and playful. This one is gnawing friskily on a twig. Location: Pinnacles National Park. Photo: Elaine Miller Bond Pinnacles National Park is one of the national parks closest to Berkeley. It’s about two and a half hours away. Elaine Miller Bond, who often showcases her wildlife photography on Berkeleyside, visited the […]
Posted inNature
10 Berkeley animal stories you didn’t want to miss in 2015
Diary of a hummingbird’s nest — one of 10 animal-related stories on Berkeleyside in 2015. You may also have caught a live presentation of the diary at the Uncharted Ideas Festival this year. Photo: Elaine Miller Bond Berkeleyside reports many animal stories every year, and 2015 was no exception. Sometimes they are strange, such as the day […]
Posted inNature
First time observed: Hundreds of monarch butterflies cluster in Berkeley’s Aquatic Park
Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in an ash tree in Berkeley’s Aquatic Park. Photo: Elaine Miller Bond In late October, Berkeleyside received a tip that thousands of tiny fish were jumping in the waters of Aquatic Park. Less than three weeks later, we received another “scoop” about the park that throngs of monarch butterflies were clustering […]
Posted inNature
Making a splash: Fish jumping in Berkeley’s Aquatic Park
Not a flying fish: This is a topsmelt, a common fish in our coastal estuaries. Photo: Elaine Miller Bond Dark clouds gathered last Tuesday morning, and many of us hoped for a storm. Yet, the not-so-still waters at Berkeley’s Aquatic Park didn’t roil from raindrops; they bubbled from thousands of small jumping fish. According to […]
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Sweetness and light: Diary from a hummingbird’s nest
March 2: An Anna’s hummingbird incubating eggs in her nest. Anna’s is one of the most common hummingbird species in coastal California. Photo: Elaine Miller Bond Have you ever had one of those days in which everything sparkles? For me, that day was March 1. It was my first day out on my own, following […]
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All aflutter: Berkeley insect lovers celebrate 40th year counting butterflies
Anise swallowtail butterfly: one of the 43 species spotted in and around Berkeley during the annual Butterfly Count. Photo: Elaine Miller Bond A hummingbird whirrs by, as a squirrel flicks its tail, flirting. A robin fluffs its feathers after bathing in the stream. Leopard lilies, columbines, even the cacti are in full summery bloom. But […]
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Friends in high places: Peregrine falcons soar above us
When diving through the air, peregrine falcons can attain speeds over 200 miles per hour. Photo: Elaine Miller Bond Not long ago, Berkeleyside reader Patrick Hickey kindly sent in a photo of a beautiful bird of prey, perched on a tall building near his home in downtown Berkeley. I had my own suspicions (and sense […]
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Darlings, not Draculas: Meet the bats of Berkeley
Pallid bat — one of the 14 native bat species that lives in or passes through Berkeley. Photo: Elaine Miller Bond Once you know what to look for, you might catch glimpses of California’s native bats, even around cities like Berkeley. I see bats near Tilden Park, flittering off into the dusk like tiny airborne […]
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In a Berkeley park, a bluebird displays unusual behavior
This young western bluebird — a “helper” — has been feeding wiggling meals to his baby siblings. Photo: Elaine Miller Bond Last year, Rusty Scalf, teacher and trip leader for the Audubon Society, introduced me to a family of western bluebirds living and nesting in Berkeley’s San Pablo Park. This year, Scalf called me back. […]
Posted inNature
Lynxes of the bird world: Cooper’s hawks nest in Berkeley
Cooper’s hawks are woodland hawks, about the size of a crow. They are often mistaken for their smaller dove-sized cousins, sharp-shinned hawks. Location: Nimitz Way, Wildcat Canyon Regional Park. Photo: Elaine Miller Bond They’re secretive, stealthy and quick. Allen Fish, director of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, calls them “feisty.” Cooper’s hawks, he says, are “the […]