From our blogs

Celebrate the 16th Annual Endangered Species Day on May 21st, 2021. Every year on the third Friday in May, thousands of people around the world participate in Endangered Species Day by celebrating, learning about, and taking action to protect threatened and endangered species.

In honor of Endangered Species Day, we would like to introduce the adorable California Tiger Salamander! The California Tiger Salamander is a threatened and endangered amphibian species native to California. This spotted salamander enjoys munching on snails, insects, earthworms, and even small fish!

A female California tiger salamander with unfertilized eggs, observed near breeding ponds at Ellicott Slough NWR. Photo Credit: Ashley Spratt / USFWS

The first full week of May is National Wildflower Week, May 3 through 9 this year. It is a time when most of the country is ablaze with springtime blossoms.

While taking a walk around your neighborhood or driving along the freeway, a patch of California Poppies, with bright orange petals and lime green foliage, might catch your attention.

California Poppy. Photo Credit: Hope Presley / SFBWS

The California Poppy is the state’s designated flower, and it’s a shining example of California’s amazing collection of plants.

California has the highest number of native and endemic plants than any other state. It is estimated that the state is home to 6,500 species, subspecies, and varieties of plants, many are not found anywhere else on the earth! 

Why does California have so many plants? Well, California is actually a global hotspot for biodiversity. The state’s variation in landscape features, latitudinal ranges, minerals, soils, and climate result in a wide range of ecosystems that can support many plants as well as animals. Most of the state lies within the California Floristic Province, a portion of western North America having a Mediterranean- climate (dry summers and mild, wet winters) with high levels of plant diversity. 

Starting Friday April 30th, the global 2021 City Nature Challenge begins.

A global effort to document the biodiversity in your neighborhood, you can participate by making observations and putting them on iNaturalist.

From April 30 through May 3, document the incredible biodiversity of the Bay Area by making observations of WILD organisms in any of the nine counties that touch the San Francisco Bay.

Join us for upcoming nature events in the San Francisco Bay Area.

• Virtual BioBlitz at Ogier Ponds: Fri, April 30, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM PDT

  Ogier Ponds is located along the Coyote Creek Parkway, a 16 mile length of Coyote Creek that is one large Santa Clara County Park. On this virtual outing, Merav Vonshak and Kathleen Tralow will take you on a tour of nature at these ponds, including what lives in the water, and some of the birds and plants that make this area their home. You may see (or hear) hawks, the Botta's pocket gopher, or even a damselfly.

  Register on EventBrite to attend the Virtual BioBlitz at Ogier Ponds.

  Supported by Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful , BioBlitz.club, Grassroots Ecology, Open Space Authority, and Santa Clara County Parks.

• BioBlitz at Hellyer Park: Sat, May 1, 2021 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM PDT

  Located in the southern part of San Jose, Hellyer Park is a safe haven for many species of plants and animals right along Coyote Creek. Join Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful and BioBlitz.club at the park's Cottonwood Lake Entrance in cataloging and documenting all of the living things that reside there. We will have experts in various fields to help guide participants through all the cool plants and wildlife.

  Register on EventBrite to attend the BioBlitz at Hellyer Park.

  Hosted by Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful, Bioblitz.club, and Grassroots Ecology. Supported by Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority and Santa Clara County Parks.

Join the 2021 Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour free online this year via Zoom and YouTube!

Spend four Sundays in the Gardens — April 25, May 2, May 16 and May 23 — with passionate garden owners and the talented designers of the Bay Area’s most beautiful and inspiring landscapes will show us what’s happening in the garden now, feature their favorite natives, describe their favorite native plant gardening resources, and more.

This year’s Tour features 25 Alameda and Contra Costa county gardens, which can be seen on the Tour’s website. You can view photos of each of these gardens, read a description of the garden and print out its plant list at View the 2021 Gardens. You will be able to meet the homeowners and view about half of these gardens live online through Sundays in the Gardens.

This program will be hosted on Zoom, and live-streamed on YouTube. Registration is required. Click here to register for the online tour. Your registration email will contain links to join the live events.

The exemplary landscapes on the Tour hope to inform, inspire and motivate you to incorporate native plants into your own gardens. They contain at least 60% native plants, are pesticide-free, water-conserving, and provide habitat for wildlife.

Renowned ecologist and best-selling author Douglas Tallamy will open this event on Sunday, April 25, at 10:00, after which each garden owner will host a 25 minute long live visit.