Explore science illustration with artists featured in our annual exhibit, The Art of Nature, and get tips for how to make your own science illustrations at home. This post is from Yvonne Byers.
As they say, “curiosity killed the cat”. Luckily I’m a human with one life to learn as much as I can about the amazing world we live in. —Yvonne Byers
Prompt: Engage Your Senses
There are so many great ways to use a nature journaling project to connect to your local habitat(s). One of my favorites is sequential observations — making notes and sketches about an organism you observe over time. Spring is a great time to do this because there are so many visible changes happening in our environments.
Your yard may look like a bunch of weeds but somewhere hidden amongst the chaos is an oasis you can indulge in for a little while.
Find a sit spot in your yard where there is something that has caught your eye. Take a comfortable seat and before even putting pen to paper just sit and take everything in. Use all your senses to hear, see, smell, feel, and maybe even taste the elements, plants, and critters that surround you.
Do a quick free write to get your brain juices flowing and then sketch away and enjoy the comfort and beauty of your own home!
During these isolating times, it’s more important than ever to connect with nature and to connect with our community. Even from home, you can help nature and inspire stewardship of the natural world! Below are a few of our favorite stewardship and community science opportunities. In addition to environmental stewardship projects, we also encourage you to be a steward of your social community. For all volunteer and stewardship programs, be sure to maintain safe practices as highlighted here.
Stewardship
Volunteer Grocery Shopper Help homebound seniors and others in need by shopping for their groceries. The individual will provide you with a list, and you leave the groceries at their door. Give essential assistance to members of your community who require extra help.
Resources: Sign up at the Volunteer Grocery Shopper form here. Background checks and some other paperwork required (takes about one week to process).
Connections Without Walls Give social support to isolated elderly adults across the country with simple phone calls. This flexible program is offered for free during the COVID-19 outbreak as so many people (including you and me) need friendly socializing. It’s a good way to connect to our national community in times of need.
Neighborhood Cleanups One way you can be a steward of both your community and your planet is by doing a neighborhood or beach cleanup. Get started with this tutorial:
Notice: Access to beaches and parks may be limited due to ordinances regarding COVID-19. Please check your local guidelines for up-to-date guidelines.
iNaturalist One of the best ways to advance science is by utilizing the community to build a previously unheard of body of knowledge and researchers both locally and globally are using data found on iNaturalist. Simply photograph and record the location of what you find to build a database of your observations and contribute to studies of how ecosystems are changing with time.
With iNaturalist you can explore nature, take photographs, and help scientists. What’s not to love? Get started!
Sudden Oak Death Bioblitz California’s iconic oak trees suffer from a devastating disease known as Sudden Oak Death (SOD). UC Berkeley’s community science program invites volunteers to track the spread of SOD by walking through forests, identifying trees that have SOD, and creating a real-time map of the trees and forests affected.
This does require some training (watching a video and answering a questionnaire), as well as the use of both a website and app. The bioblitz can be done by all ages.
The Sea Otter Monitoring Program Hosted by the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, you can watch and observe wild sea otters from a webcam. The arguably cutest marine mammal faces a lot of threats, so monitoring their daily activities provides valuable data on steps needed to protect them. And who doesn’t need a sea otter web cam in their life?
Zooniverse Zooniverse is a virtual program that collects research projects around the globe that need community science or virtual volunteers. You can scroll through and see what research projects interest you most. There’s gravity waves, rainfall studies, wildlife watching, and many other projects.
Explore science illustration with artists featured in our annual exhibit, The Art of Nature, and get tips for how to make your own science illustrations at home. This post is from Megan Gnekow, recipient of the Museum’s 2019 Laura Hecox Naturalist Award.
I make scientific illustrations because I want to inspire folks to look closely at the world around them. I want to make complexities and relationships more clear, helping people understand that all organisms are connected to each other. — Megan Gnekow
Prompt: Sequential Observations
There are so many great ways to use a nature journaling project to connect to your local habitat(s). One of my favorites is sequential observations — making notes and sketches about an organism you observe over time. Spring is a great time to do this because there are so many visible changes happening in our environments.
Choose an organism that you can observe regularly over a period of time (the period of shelter-in-place is a good place to start!). Observe the organism you have chosen as frequently as you are able to and make notes and sketches about what you observe. Note date, time, location (macro-habitat and micro-habitat). Use as many of your senses as you can and record what you learn!
Illustrations by Megan Gnekow using the San Jose City Hall peregrine falcon nest camera hosted by the Predatory Bird Research Group in 2017.
Recording your observations over time gives you insights into an organism and the environment in which it lives. Hopefully this plants a seed for further observations and exploration. Don’t worry about making beautiful drawings. Just sketch and/or note what you observe!
If you can’t get outside or have other limitations to observing organisms, there are plenty of webcams available to inspire you — I would suggest a bird camera hosted by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology or the falcon cam at UC Berkeley.
Read more about Megan Gnekow here and visit her website here. Explore all of her illustrations from this peregrine falcon series here.
Beach cleanups are a way we can all enjoy the outdoors while serving our community. Whenever you’re walking along a beach, river, or other waterway, you can help keep it clean. While there’s a lot we can all do with reducing our own waste, cleanups can prevent some of it from going into our oceans. (As with all activities, remember to practice good social distancing!) Here’s what you need to know about conducting your own beach cleanup:
Helpful Tips and Suggestions
Never touch anything with your bare hands. Be sure you’re wearing gloves. As for me, I use gardening gloves. The best thing is that they are washable, so I can keep reusing them. I also recommend close toed shoes.
I use a bucket instead of a plastic bag to reduce my waste. A reusable shopping bag is also effective.
Do not touch anything sharp or organic. If you find dead animals or waste (poop), just leave it. If you find a biohazard, like a syringe, do not pick it up. If you want, you can call the police and tell them exactly where the biohazard is located, but you are not obligated to.
If you see any living wildlife, give it plenty of space and do not disturb it. Even if that elephant seal is sitting right on top of a piece of plastic, let it be. Also, remember that all Marine Mammals are protected under the Marine Mammal Act.
Both the city and the county of Santa Cruz have specific but different criteria for what constitutes trash or recycling. I highly recommend you take a look at those before you start your cleanup:
Pay attention to microplastics, or plastics that are smaller than 5 mm. Microplastics are by far the majority of the plastics that make it into our oceans. Just like larger pieces of plastics, any microplastic that gets ingested can’t be digested. And that’s not just for ocean animals. It’s estimated that we humans eat about a credit card’s size worth of plastic every week. Learn more here!
And lastly, remember to have a good time. Take a moment to enjoy the waves and the fresh air. We are so lucky to live in a place with gorgeous forests, a healthy ocean, and, most of all, with wonderful people.
There are quite a few habitats to be found around the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. Today we will go on a short walk starting at the Museum, and ending at Arana Gulch Open Space Park. The Museum is located in Tyrrell Park. Let’s start there, where a number of interesting neighborhood birds live. House finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) and golden-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia atricapilla) can be found flying through the bushes while the occasional red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) can be seen in the big eucalyptus tree. Bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus) can be seen flitting through the shrubs, making their “plinking” calls as they look for insects, sounding like tiny little tambourines.
House finch
Red-shouldered hawk
Bushtits
Golden-crowned Sparrow
As you walk out toward Seabright Beach you will probably see a wide variety of gulls and the American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) poking around looking for something to eat. In the water you might see the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentails) flying around or the double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) swimming around chasing fish. As you walk towards the Santa Cruz Harbor and lighthouse keep your eyes peeled for the snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus) hiding in the sand dunes. Please keep your distance from these adorable and threatened birds as they nest on the same beaches that we play on, so we need to respect their space and their home.
American Crow
Brown Pelican
Double-crested cormorant
Snowy Plover
While you’re walking through the Santa Cruz Harbor, be on the lookout for some of the marine mammals that occasionally cruise through including California sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis), the Pacific harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richardii), and the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus). Perched on the masts of the boats you might see the black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) or even a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) with its wingspan of over 6 feet.
Pacific harbor seal
CA sea lions
Black-crowned night heron
Great blue heron
If you head north through the Harbor you will come to Arana Gulch Open Space Park. This 67 acre park has open meadows surrounded by wetlands and beautiful oak forest. There have been many amazing wildlife sightings at Arana Gulch, including coyotes (Canis latrans) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos). The wetland on the east side is home to the belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon), a small and vocal bird which can be seen diving into the water to catch fish. The oak forests surrounding the edges provide habitats for the downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) and the California scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica). In the meadows you can see the western bluebird (Sialia mexicana) and the western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) perched along the fences while you can often find the red-tailed hawk soaring overhead.
This short, hour-long walk takes you through some beautiful habitats and shows how nature is your neighbor and not something far away or hard to find.
The Loma Prieta Earthquake of October 17, 1989 did over $6 billion in damage to the Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay areas of central California. This Naturalist Night lecture at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History was presented by Capitola Museum Curator Frank Perry on the occasion of the quake’s 30-year anniversary, October 17, 2019, in partnership between the two museums.
This lecture focuses on the geologic setting of the epicenter and phenomena associated with the earthquake. This video was created by Frank, combining an audio recording with the slides used in the talk. The speaker, Frank Perry, is introduced by our Public Programs Manager Marisa Gomez.
This Naturalist Night lecture was presented by Frank Perry on August 18, 2015 at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History and explores the early beginnings of the Museum in 1905 to present day.
Birds are, quite literally, all around us. They are a constant presence in our cities, parks, and open spaces. The previous post provided an introduction to the “why” of birdwatching, and some basic tools and tips to get started. This post will introduce a selection of species that are common across nearly all habitat types in Santa Cruz – “the regulars”. Following “Gettin’ Birdy” posts will take deeper dives into particular birding hotspots, as well as bird biology and behavior.
One of the great benefits of birdwatching is that birds are present in our cities and urban spaces. You don’t have to get far out into nature to see interesting species or witness unusual behavior. In fact, there are many interesting behaviors that are exhibited by birds that thrive alongside our city streets and buildings. Look for nests under the eaves of buildings or in brushy areas of backyards, and even in planters and garden boxes – certain ground-nesting birds often hide beneath ornamental shrubs and flowers! As you begin to explore your neighborhood and local area for birds, it can be nice to have an idea of what you might be seeing. The species list and images below can serve as a nice primer for “the regulars” that you may be able to see from your own window, front porch, or yard.
Mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) – The most common duck, this species is a great example of sexual dimorphism: when males and females of the same species look different! Can you tell which is the male and which is the female?
Mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) – The most common duck, this species is a great example of sexual dimorphism: when males and females of the same species look different! Can you tell which is the male and which is the female?
Black phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) – often seen perched on wires, fences, or the ends of branches, these little songbirds catch insects in midair! Nicknamed the “tuxedo bird”.
California scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica) – “A blue jay!” someone will exclaim. Alas, no. Blue jays live in the eastern half of the United States. The scrub jay is a common (and loud) resident of parks and neighborhoods,.
American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) – If it’s a fairly large all-black bird, chances are you’re looking at a crow. Crows are found more often in urban settings compared to ravens, which prefer to stick to forests.
House finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) – These little songbirds use their thick bills to crack open seeds and shells! Often found in parks and neighborhoods, they can even sing while in flight!
House sparrow (Passer domesticus) – A nonnative bird from Eurasia, these little brown, black, and grey birds are now common in urban settings, often nesting on (or in) buildings.
California towhee (Melozone crissalis) – Widely considered to be the little brown bird, their telltale marking is their “cinnamon pants”, a touch of orange underneath the tail.
Rock dove (Columba livia) – the feral pigeon seen commonly in urban spaces, rock doves are often found on the ground or clustered together on telephone wires.
So much can be revealed to us when we immerse ourselves in our surroundings and give our undivided attention to nature! When we slow down and focus our senses, our awareness deepens and we begin to notice more. Noticing, in turn, leads to connection, familiarity, a desire for stewardship, a sense of place, and so much more. By familiarizing ourselves with nature in this way we can also learn to recognize patterns and relationships that exist all around us.
The intention for this guide is to help you build your sensory awareness skills through nature journaling, games, stories, and exercises in mindfulness. So grab a journal, head outside, and let’s begin!
This Nature Awareness Guide (PDF | HTML) by our Education Assistant Ellen Stone was written as a capstone project for the California Naturalist Program, 2019.
Neary Lagoon Wildlife Refuge is a beloved park nestled at the heart of Santa Cruz. Once a true lagoon (with an open connection to the ocean), Neary Lagoon is now a freshwater marsh. It is an important part of an 850 acre watershed that drains into the lagoon via Laurel Creek and Bay Creek before draining into the ocean through a controlled flood gate.
This is a 44-acre park with roughly 14 acres of freshwater lagoon, and is an important habitat for many animals. Click here to download a guided hike for a 1-mile loop through this beautiful wildlife refuge (PDF | HTML). As you observe wildlife, refer to this guide of commonly-spotted animals (PDF | HTML).
