Category Archives: The Natural World

Border Tourists

The US-Mexican border is so many things to so many people, it’s easy to forget you can go right up to it and touch it.  Sort of. It wasn’t so many centuries ago (less than one) that it was only an … Continue reading

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Tern Return

The first least terns of the season have returned (as they do every year in the late spring) to build their nests next to the runways at Lindbergh Field, according to the airport’s e-newsletter.  Although I suppose a sharp-eyed passenger … Continue reading

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Spring Lace

San Diego needs rain, so the recent storms had only one drawback, as far as I was concerned.  All that wind helped to strip off the petals of the flowering pear trees — which are one of the delights of early … Continue reading

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Rebirth of a Wetland

Of the 17 coastal wetland areas within the San Diego region, the San Dieguito Lagoon once ranked among the biggest. The marsh area alone is believed to have covered more than 600 acres.  But fish and marine creatures weren’t the only ones … Continue reading

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Happy trails

Throughout my 35 years in San Diego, I’ve visited Balboa Park  hundreds of times. I’ve written articles about it and led tour groups through it. But the recently inaugurated Balboa Park Trails system is opening doors and pointing the way to new … Continue reading

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Sensuous Solstice

I like to celebrate the Winter Solstice. To me, it seems worth noticing when the journey into greater and greater darkness has drawn to an end, and we begin the cycle back to the long warm days of abundance. Some years I’m lucky if I … Continue reading

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The Low-Down

Here’s another wintry San Diego pleasure: it’s the time to enjoy extreme low tides. The local shoreline of course experiences low tides (usually two) every day. But the lows only get remarkably low when the moon lines up with the … Continue reading

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Tweet Spot

I can’t imagine many folks making a special trip to visit Tweet Street, the city’s new “bird park” located on Date Street between 6th and 10th avenues downtown. But this tiny, not-quite-secret garden is almost certain to elicit smiles from residents of Cortez … Continue reading

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Wet and fresh

Water: H2O=Life, the exhibition currently featured at the San Diego Natural History Museum, was organized by the American Museum of Natural History and the Science Museum of Minnesota, but it seems particularly apt for viewing here. San Diego County’s nearly 3 … Continue reading

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Under the Sea

Anyone who enjoys the beach should love The Map, the depiction of La Jolla Underwater Park and Ecological Reserve unveiled September 12 at La Jolla Shores. Created on a once-unlovely 2300-square-foot corner of Kellogg Park between the park’s south comfort station … Continue reading

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