What do fake rattlesnakes, California ground squirrels, odd eye bones, bubonic plague, bizarre choices in home decor, and regurgitated mouse bones have to do with burrowing owls?

Join me and Phil Unitt as we venture into an urban canyon in San Diego to find out.

Helpful links:

Phil Unitt’s page

Rattlesnake owl noise

Urban Burrowing Owls piece by Clinton Abbott

Fish and Wildlife page on burrowing owls

Secretary Bird video

Support Golden State Naturalist on ⁠Patreon⁠ and get perks starting at $4/month.

Follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠.

My website is ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠.

Get podcast Merch.

The theme song is called “i dunno” by grapes and can be found ⁠here⁠.

Episode cover photo by Ray Hennessy

The sea is rising, and I have a lot of questions.

Questions about sand movement, seawalls, nature-based climate solutions, ecosystem engineer plants, sand dunes, climate literature, and how we can harness the power of our collective imaginations to adapt to a changing world together.

Join me and environmental reporter Rosanna Xia at Point Dume in Malibu as we discuss my many questions and explore a beach that's been reimagined with the future in mind.

Links:

⁠Become a Heyday Member⁠ and receive a free copy of Rosanna’s book, California Against the Sea, when you add the code GOLDEN to the “How did you find us” section.

⁠Grist’s climate fiction reading list⁠.

Learn more about the Embarcadero from this ⁠Exploratorium walking tour⁠.

Read more about ⁠Seattle’s living seawall⁠.

Support Golden State Naturalist on⁠ ⁠Patreon⁠⁠ and get perks starting at $4/month.

Follow me on⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠.

My website is⁠ ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠⁠.

Get podcast ⁠Merch⁠.

The theme song is called “i dunno” by grapes and can be found⁠ ⁠here⁠⁠.Photo Credit ⁠Nikoloz Gachechiladze⁠

It's fall!

And all around the country, tidy piles of raked leaves rest on the corners of lawns, ready to be bagged up and thrown away.

But throwing away leaves means throwing away free mulch and fertilizer.

It also means throwing away habitat and belching methane into the atmosphere.

Join me and National Wildlife Federation naturalist David Mizejewski as we discuss the benefits of leaving the leaves, the harms of removing them, and the kind of abundance we can buoy right outside our doors by embracing the natural habitat building opportunities all around us.

Learn more about leaving the leaves.

Support Golden State Naturalist on ⁠Patreon⁠ and get perks starting at $4/month.

Follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠.

My website is ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠.

Golden State Naturalist Merch