Winter meteor showers continue as the Leonids enter our sky viewing. This shower, visible through Nov. 30, peaks at about 15 meteors an hour on Nov. 17. Weather permitting, look for the constellation Leo as the radiant point in the eastern sky before midnight. The new moon follows this peak on Wednesday, Nov. 19 with some very high six-foot morning tides. The next batch of king tides arrives the first week of December.
Our winter neighbors, monarch butterflies, did not return from Mexico! There is always something to learn in the natural world. Monarchs overwintering on the coast of California begin their trip west of the Rocky Mountains. Their eastern cousins migrate from Mexico to the Atlantic seaboard and Canada.
As the amber, scarlet and golden hues of autumn fall away, brilliant sprays of red berries on madrone trees color the scene. The berries contrast with the green leaves and peeling reddish-brown bark. As more leaves drop away in forests, the large stick nests of pack rats—or dusky-footed woodrats—emerge from the leafy camouflage. Some of their nests are located near riparian areas at White House Pool and in the oak woodlands along Limantour Road.