Nesting sites for burrowing owls were widespread in the north bay until about 25 years ago. Now some small steps are being taken to encourage the birds to come back.

 The efforts to provide new nesting sites in southeastern Sonoma County are being guided by the birds' history there, explains Tom Rusert of Sonoma Birding.

Below, an example of the arcing habitat tube, with the central nesting area beneat the blue disc atg the center. The white circular piece atop it provides a "window" into the nest, so the presence and actions of the owls can be observed. A concrete block is attached at each entrance, to prevent the tube from being crushed or collapsing.

The borrowing owls are not an officially endangered species, at least not yet. Rusert says that actually makes it easier to do habitat installation projects on private lands.

Below, a map showing the range of burrowing owls across North America. The Eastern Burrowing Owl, a cousin of those found here in California, is fairly common in parts of Florida. They were featured in Carl Hiaasen's popular children's book Hoot, and the movie that was made from the book.

Red tides—caused when millions of algae spread across the surface of coastal waters—have been around for centuries. But our understanding of how and why they occur is murkier than the water they inhabit. So a new research project is hoping to clear things up.

Efforts to secure funding for this oceanic research began nearly five years ago, says UC Santa Cruz researcher and professor Raphael Kudela. Concurrently, a team at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium was developing a small robotic research platform that can be left in the ocean for months at a time. Kudela says his study intends to make extensive use of them.

These will be combined with a second type of robotic device that samples water deeper below the surface.

Dirt consists of much more than mere minerals. That's why the most important parts of the plants we grow may be the underground root systems we rarely see. .

A soil profile such as this offers rarely seen information about how itstexture and content can become stratified and vareid.

The addition of microbes and fungi does more than provide nutrients for the plants, explains David Perkins, a San Francisco-based farm and garden consultant. It actually modifies the structure of the soil itself.

For serious gardeners and growers, Perkins adds, understanding soil biology offers myriad benefits.

The need for groceries from the Redwood Empire Food Bank is on the upswing, while federal support for their programs is moving in the opposite direction.

One indicator of the depth of the lingering recession, says Redwood Empire Food Bank Executive Director David Goodman, can be seen locally in the demand for their summer lunch program for low income students.

The local food bank and its 290 counterparts across the country have been actively lobbying members of Congress to defend funding for federal food support programs, but Goodman admits they sometimes feel overmatched in that effort.