A partial lunar eclipse on Tuesday, Sept. 17 takes place on the night of the full moon. Fog permitting, the sliver of shadow will be visible between roughly 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. European agricultural tradition, transported to America, calls this moon the “harvest moon,” as the extra light of the full moon allowed farmers more time to harvest crops.
The summer bounty of blackberries lines roads and trails. Nestled amongst the berry canes, watch carefully for the flaming red colors of poison oak, a West Coast harbinger of autumn.
Acorn woodpeckers are sitting on fence posts as they prepare for the upcoming harvest. One of their fascinating behaviors is to jam acorns into the top of the posts, where the acorn is held as in a vise while the woodpecker extracts insects from it without the acorn rolling around. The woodpeckers feed on flying insects throughout much of the year, but in winter they rely on insects growing in the rotting nuts.
The western snowy plover nesting season ends as summer retreats. This year saw 41 nests on national park beaches. From 28 of these nests, 26 new plovers fledged. The number of breeding adults has grown to 50 adults—twice as many as in 2019.
Nudibranchs have returned to the Bear Valley Visitor Center. These handcrafted delights by Celeste Woo will spend the winter on display.