MARIPOSA – The University of California at Merced now boasts a newly designated natural reserve. Last month the UC Board of Regents approved the formal addition of UC Merced’s Vernal Pool and Grassland Reserve to the university’s Natural Reserve System. At 756,000 acres, it is the largest university-administered reserve system in the world. The new UCM reserve, one of 39 ...

SACRAMENTO — This New Year’s Day 2014, California State Parks will commemorate their 150th Anniversary with several First Day Hikes planned across the state. On Wednesday Jan. 1, 2014, 31 state parks will offer 38 different hikes, including hikes in the redwoods, the deserts and along the coast and beaches, as well as a paddle hike, and other activities.

Submitted by Oakhurst artist Monique Wales YOSEMITE – Binoculars, field guides and cameras in hand, Virginia Lazar and I stepped into the Citizen Science arena via Yosemite’s Christmas Bird Count. New to the birding world, and filled with enthusiasm, we joined the 114th Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) taking place all over the Americas from Dec. 14 to Jan. ...

The official measurement at my weather station is 6.5 inches of snow and light snow is still lightly falling as I write this.

MOUNTAIN AREA – Bird lovers, photographers and any interested parties are invited to join the National Audubon Society’s 114th Christmas Bird Count (CBC). The CBC is an annual international bird census that began on Christmas Day in 1900. It now numbers more than 2,500 individual counts, and will be held throughout the area between Dec. 14, 2013, and Jan. 3, ...

MARIPOSA – Brazil conjures up many images among Americans — Rio de Janeiro, the Amazon, tropical rainforests and abundant, exotic animals, especially its stunningly colorful birds. The largest country in South America, Brazil is home to a hugely rich diversity of avifauna — more than 1,800 species of birds, more than 200 of them endemic (found only there). Sixty percent ...

I have a weather station at my house and contribute the precipitation data to a nation wide website of weather watchers. I have always enjoyed tracking and understanding what is occurring in our local weather but the normal sources we use often fall far short for where I live and play. You can also become a weather station and track ...

If you live in the foothills like I do, you have many visitors dropping by. I have started calling this one Roberta Bobcat but I don’t have a clue whether Roberta is a he or a she. She makes her rounds through the property about once a day. She had been coming through in the afternoon but has recently modified ...

MARIPOSA – The Yosemite Area Audubon Society will lead a birding field trip to the Merced Falls Reservoir (McSwain Forebay) beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Nov 16. Everyone will meet at the Mariposa rest area adjacent to the Mariposa Museum and History Center just off Highway 140.

YOSEMITE – With the winter season approaching, Yosemite Conservancy announced today that it is accepting lottery registration forms for the 2013-2014 season at the newly restored Ostrander Ski Hut, the cherished rustic stone cabin used by intrepid skiers and snowshoers who make the 10-mile journey from the park’s Badger Pass Ski Area to Ostrander Lake.