Conifer mortality beetle kill

Talking about trees – Forest health and tree mortality in the Sierra Nevada

In the Sierra Nevada especially, and throughout California, there has been a lot of talk lately about trees – between fire, drought, and bark beetle mortality, people are concerned about the health of Sierra Nevada forests. And they are right to be. Sierra Nevada forest health The forests of the Sierra look much different than […]

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Birds of a Feather … Mysterious Mergansers

Merganser Mysteries Imagine you’re hiking up the river, and swimming against impossible currents, a bird resembling a duck with a mohawk heads upstream with a line of more ducklings than you can count! You’ve been lucky enough to come across a member of a group of waterfowl referred to as the mergansers. Mergansers are known […]

CSERC cameras document black bear mother & FOUR bear cubs!

Four bear cubs!! While black bear are one of the most frequent visitors to our cameras, this is the first time we have documented FOUR bear cubs! CSERC has been using wildlife cameras that are triggered by motion to survey for rare wildlife in Yosemite park and the Stanislaus forest for decades. On a few […]

Go Green In Your Yard This Spring

Check out the latest CSERC Blog before you start your spring yard work! You just may find something that will make your gardening woes a little easier to tackle this year!

Horned Lark

Rain showers and wild flowers!

The Sierra Nevada and foothills are getting another round of moisture, and El nino is making for a great wildflower season already this spring! Even the birds are taking advantage of the bloom! If you get the chance to get out when the sun emerges from the clouds, visit one of these three wildflower hotspots: […]

Enjoy Winter Wildlife in the Foothills

Just because the thermometer has dropped doesn’t mean that you can’t get out and enjoy wildlife.  In fact, visiting locations in the foothills is one way to see wildlife and winter can be a great time to do it. Winter can be a time when outdoor activities give way to snuggling by the fire with […]

Safe snow play in the Central Sierra

          El nino has been delivering upon its promise of a wet winter here in the Sierra Nevada. With the abundance of snow, many people are heading up into the mountains to recreate and enjoy the beauty of winter. It is wonderful to bring someone to the snow for their first […]

Belted kingfisher. photo courtesy of John Benson (source: Flickr).

Enjoying our local wildlife – an encounter with the belted kingfisher

If you live in the Central Sierra Nevada foothills, you may be familiar with one of many intricate “ditch” canal systems that are laced among our forests. Local water companies currently use these canals as a way to convey water from rivers or reservoirs to their customers. Often there are well-established dirt trails following these […]

A pacific chorus frog waits for its next meal amongst its fellow insect-eaters, the sundew plant. Note the sticky red-tentacles of the sundew which lure and then trap its insect prey. Photo by James Patrick Kelly.

The Amazing Pacific Chorus Frog

The Pacific Chorus Frog, Pseudacris regilla, aka tree frog, has always been a creature of curiosity for me. As each winter ends the song of the chorus frog announces the coming of spring, when the nighttime temperature reaches above 40 degrees. I get excited the first night that their call rings through the air (which […]