Springtime will soon be in the air and you and your family are invited to get take a break from the 9 to 5 and city life to experience the awakening of life. The Center For Land-Based Learning at the Farm on Putah Creek is hosting Welcome Back Springtime at the Farm on Putah Creek Sunday March 28, 2010 from 10:00am – 4:00pm. The Center For Land-Based Learning is a non-profit whose stated mission is to “engage youth in learning experiences on the land that foster respect for the critical interplay of agriculture, nature and society.” Under the leadership of Mary Kimball, Executive Director, the Center uses a network of farms, ranches, and natural ecosystems as educational laboratories for

The following true stories suggest that we do not give our animal friends sufficient credit as to their intelligence, loyalty and devotion. Some scoff at animals having or showing emotion. I believe that they do have feelings and often very deep, including love for each other and humans that are special to them. Apparently they can connect with us in ways that are yet unknown. I felt these true stories were particularly appropriate for Valentine’s Day. A long time friend emailed the first story to me; the second is a personal story. Freedom and Jeff Freedom, a Bald Eagle and a man named Jeff have been together 11 years this past summer. Freedom came into the animal rescue center as a bab

Local environmental and conservation organizations are bringing the Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival On Tour to Sacramento for the first time Thursday. Save Our Sandhill Cranes and the Environmental Council of Sacramento have chosen 11 films for the three-hour festival being held at the Crest Theatre — a sampling of the annual film fest held last month in Nevada City. Moviegoers will watch adventure films about a team kayaking in Papua New Guinea, Oregon tree climbers in search of the biggest Sitka spruces and surfing in Wyoming. Other films document life in the Anza Borrego desert, the rising acidity of the ocean and Kenya's environmental and social justice movement. With more

Flocks of snow geese are seen as they winter over in rice paddies south of Yuba City. They probably flew here from Alaska. Snow geese breeding populations reside in California’s central valleys, the lower Colorado River, south/central New Mexico’s Rio Grande wetlands, Mexico’s northern Chihuahuan desert river basins and playa wetlands, and Mexico’s Gulf of California shorelines. In early spring they'll head back to their nesting areas. The 11th Annual Snow Goose Festival of the Pacific Flyway happens January 28-31, 2010. For information, (530) 345-1865. SacPress Photo | Kati Garner

Even though autumn had its official start three weeks ago, I had my first foray into fall on Saturday's tree tour through my own neighborhood Arden Park, hosted by the Sacramento Tree Foundation. The tree tours were started over five years ago by longtime Sacramento Tree Foundation member Fran Clarke. It was Clarke's goal to make the community aware of the many spectacular trees found in Sacramento. Eighteen resident citizens, from 2 years age to retired, gathered at La Sierra Park for an informational walk-about with Sacramento Tree Foundation stewardship coordinator Luanne Leineke. "The trees are not only beautiful, they play important roles in our community," Leineke said. "They help

I was driving west on Baseline Rd, almost to Hwy 99, when I noticed lighting brightening the sky around 8:45pm.  I pulled off the road at the intersection of Elverta and 99, as did other travelers and captured the show for about an hour. Photos | Kati Garner    

The equinox happens twice a year: once in the spring and once in the fall. Due to the tilt of the earth as it orbits the sun, the relative length of daylight expands and contracts throughout the year. At the equinox, the length of the day is exactly equal to the length of the night. Actually, according to National Geographic News, "The true days of day-night equality always fall before the vernal equinox and after the autumnal, or fall, equinox." Traditionally, the equinoxes mark the beginning of spring and fall, whereas the solstices mark summer and winter.  Photos taken on the American River Parkway, near Sunrise Blvd.  

These photos were taken at a pond near the American River at Sunrise Blvd.  Birds, who have spent all day feeding in the river,  flock to the pond at sun down to spend the night.  There are turtles, too.  But turtles are much more camera shy than birds.

Besides hayfever, what do weeks of rain followed by blue skies and balmy weather bring to Sacramento? Wildflowers, of course. There are preserves in the area where you can see rare, native wildflowers.  But for people who are taking a walk along the American River Parkway or just poking around in the backyard,  here are four wildflowers you are almost sure to enoucounter.  (The common name of the flowers are linked to hi-res photos) 1.  Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)  This pretty weed is a great wildflower to point out to children.  It's unmistakable seedpod appearently looks like a shepherd's purse, but to our modern eyes it looks like a valentine's heart.  The child will

 "The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful." — E.E. Cummings Photos taken ARP/Sunrise Bridge.

Twenty-six greater Sacramento area museums will be offering free admission, all day long, during the 11th Annual Sacramento Museum Day. This event is presented by the Sacramento Association of Museums, and proudly supported by Umpqua Bank. Sacramento Museum Day takes place Saturday, February 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All participating museums close at 5 p.m., with the last guests admitted at 4 p.m. Museum Day, a Sacramento cultural tradition, invites all members of the community to experience the Capital City’s incredible wealth of art, history, science and wildlife at numerous participating museums at no cost. Twenty-six museums in all will be participating in Museum Day for 2009, the lar

The Bee was full of cloudy skies today with news of soaring unemployment rates and the fiscal undoing of my employer, the County of Sacramento. It put me in a gloomy mood. Yet when I took my dog out for his walk this afternoon the actual cloudy skies brightened my outlook. The clouds were beautiful to look at, for one, and made me feel grateful for the rain they carried, which our drought-ridden state needs so badly. So I took some pictures of them.  

 AR Parkway, near Sunrise Blvd.

These were taken on a foot bridge, near the Sunrise Blvd overpass. 

                      I took some pictures of mushroom on my walk by the the American River, and I geocached them here on Google maps.  I only spotted four.  I went for my walk after work, and it got dark before I had even gone two miles. 

More at The Brambles.

(Cross posted at the Bramble)