Finding Bay Area waterfalls and undisturbed mushroom rings, a self-guided tour of SF libraries, and a cavalcade of custards in San Jose. Plus, a new all-ages club in Richmond, the best view via SF’s public-private open spaces, and how artist Morisot was more than Manet’s muse.

A map for wandering

The San Francisco Public Library’s Explorer Map turns the city into a low-stakes scavenger hunt: visit all 27 branches, collect a sticker at each, and see how far curiosity will take you. Library patron Matt Spitz, who visited all 27 locations, described how the map makes you notice distance differently — some branches fit easily into a day, while others require intention and planning.

SFPL’s website includes staff recommendations for nearby places to stop while visiting each branch, and the library is offering a chance to win a grand prize for those who complete the quest. — SFPL, Matt Spitz

Above the workday

San Francisco’s privately owned public open spaces are easy to miss, tucked inside office buildings and marked by small signs, but they’re open to anyone who knows where to look. One spot that’s pretty easy to access is One Kearny, where an elevator ride leads to a compact rooftop terrace on the 11th floor.

The main draw at One Kearny is its spectacular view — Market Street unfolding below, rooftops stacked into the distance. The entrance is at 23 Geary Street, and visitors just need to let security know they’re heading to the public rooftop; there’s also a restroom key available at the front desk. — AllieEdition, SF Privately Owned Public Open Spaces

In close company

The Legion of Honor’s Manet & Morisot exhibition looks at the long artistic relationship between Édouard Manet and Berthe Morisot, pairing their paintings to show how closely their work developed over time. Moving chronologically, the show highlights shared subjects, recurring figures, and moments where one artist clearly responds to the other.

Curators also acknowledge the ambiguity of their personal connection without trying to resolve it, focusing instead on what can be seen on the canvas. The exhibition brings together loans from several museums and is now on view at the Legion of Honor. — KGO

Off the beaten block

A small all-ages venue called The Planetarium opened Thursday in the East Bay city of Richmond, with room for about 120 people and a calendar already filling up with lesser-known band names. Run by longtime DIY scene organizers, the space is geared toward local and touring acts still finding their footing, alongside performance art, comedy, film screenings, and monthly variety shows.

The founders describe it as a place where younger audiences can show up without alcohol shaping the room, and where stranger ideas are welcome on the bill. The Planetarium is located at 5327 Jacuzzi Street, with its January shows now underway. — Richmondside

Lunches made with care

Since 2017, Joy D’Ovidio has been assembling lunches for unhoused San Franciscans with the same care she once brought to specialty foods — soft brioche buns, ripe fruit, and ingredients chosen to be nourishing and easy to eat. What began the day after the 2016 election as a small act of resolve became A Meal with Dignity, a volunteer-run nonprofit operating out of her home.

The meals are intentionally restaurant-quality, funded by donations, and designed around the realities of life on the street, from dental health to portability. Volunteers distribute 30 to 150 lunches a month to people living outdoors and in RVs, primarily in the South of Market district. — KPIX

Small custards, long lines

A&M Patisserie is a San Jose pop-up turning the familiar egg tart into a rotating cast of flavors, from yuzu and pistachio to honey garlic and corn cheese. Started during lockdown by Alice Ngo and Minh Pham, the operation has grown into a fixture at makers’ markets, where long lines form around a banner listing 18 variations at a time.

The tarts sit between Portuguese pastel de nata, Macau-style egg tarts, and Cantonese dan tat — deeply flaky crusts, lighter custard, less sweetness — shaped by Pham’s bakery training and the flavors the pair grew up with. The menu changes as they test new ideas, with savory versions and a salted egg yolk tart planned around Lunar New Year, and regular appearances at SJMade fairs and other South Bay pop-ups. — KQED

Rings after rain

On Christmas morning, content creator Divya came across a rare sight on a forest hike: a full fairy ring of fly agaric mushrooms, glowing red against the wet ground. Divya explains that fairy rings are very delicate and take years to form, relying on consistent soil, undisturbed space, and just the right amount of rain to bloom at once.

Divya recommends places like Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz, Claremont Canyon in Berkeley, and the redwoods of Portola Valley near La Honda for potential sightings. — WeekendWanderersInc

Waterfall season

After the record-breaking King’s Tide and heavy rains, Bay Area waterfalls are sure to be at their most spectacular. Cataract Falls via Rock Spring on Mount Tamalpais offers a 6.5-mile loop with about 1,500 feet of elevation change, winding through shaded forest and past the Laurel Dell picnic area.

The trail passes multiple cascades and wooden bridges, making for plenty of scenic stops along the way. — OutdoorWiseLiving

Top image: The Planetarium/Google Reviews

Previously: Field Notes: Tamales, New LGBTQ Club in Oakland, and 21 Artists From ‘90s Mission School

The dark-sided flycatcher, a small brown bird from Asia, made its California debut last week when it veered off-route and spent three days at the nature preserve behind Google’s Mountain View campus, attracting birding enthusiasts from across the country.

As the Mountain View Voice reports, a couple of birders first spotted the flycatcher the morning of Wednesday, September 17 at Charleston Retention Basin, a six-acre marsh and nature trail that runs adjacent to Google’s campus.

The outlet reports that the sighting was immediately listed on the eBird list-serve, and word quickly spread. Within a few hours, 40 birders had shown up hoping to catch a glimpse. The next day there were 80 visitors, and over the course of three days, birders from as far as Michigan, New York, and Washington State hopped on planes to capture the tiny celebrity on camera.

The Mountain View Voice spoke to Matthew Dodder of the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance who said the bird had previously never been spotted in the lower 48 states, and there have only been a few sightings in Alaska. He said the flycatcher likely took a wrong turn when heading south along its usual migratory route from the Siberian region to China or the Himalayas.

Per the Voice, Google also took part in the flycatcher’s big welcome, inviting visitors to upload photos via a QR code. The company also provided parking and refreshments.

The last flycatcher sighting was reportedly on Friday evening when birders speculate it either moved somewhere else in the area or left altogether, per the Voice. Perhaps it gained enough respite to get back on its course.

As a commenter on the Voice emphasized, “protected spots like the Charleston Retention Basin can serve as sanctuaries for wildlife, welcoming unexpected visitors from far away. By preserving and restoring these natural spaces, we not only support the species we already know but we also open the door to surprises!”

Top image: Kevin Shen, ABA Birds and Birding Group/Facebook

In this week’s Field Notes: A 4-year-old meets 1,000 dogs, kids get a free tree book, and Sutro Baths summons ghosts. There's opera for Dolores Huerta, Deaf-led dance, an inclusive art fair, rooftop skating, coastal wineries with views, and a Novato Eames museum in the works.

A boy, a teacher, and 1,000 dogs

At Santa Cruz’s Pleasure Point, 4-year-old Quinn Drake is on a mission to meet 1,000 dogs before kindergarten — with help from his devoted day care teacher.

Armed with treats and a notebook, the pair spend weekends logging canine names and spreading joy. — NBC Bay Area

Free tree guide helps kids explore Bay Area forests

The Peninsula Open Space Trust has released a free Tree Explorer’s Handbook to help kids connect with nature. Designed for print or mobile, it includes bark rubbings, tree ID tips, and notes on the wildlife trees support.

POST’s Zionne Fox calls trees an accessible entry point for fostering curiosity. — KGO

Rituals, raves & ghost stories at sutro baths

The crumbling tunnel near San Francisco’s Sutro Baths has inspired ghost stories and satanic panic since the '80s. Once a quarry access route, it’s now a canvas for graffiti, a backdrop for punk shows and raves, and a magnet for occult rumors — none verified, but the energy still lingers.

Hikers still stumble upon candle stubs and burned-out circles of salt. Whether it’s urban myth or a low-profile ritual site, the place practically dares you to look over your shoulder. — SFGate

Literary rebels and psych rock with Pat Thomas

Historian and longtime Bay Area music producer Pat Thomas brings his dual passions home next week. He'll be launching his new anthology Evergreen Review: Dispatches from the Literary Underground (1957–1973) at Clio’s in Oakland on August 4, then performing with his 1990s-era improv psych band Mushroom at the Make Out Room on August 5.

The book highlights the influence of Grove Press’s countercultural literary magazine and its boundary-pushing contributors, including William Burroughs and Amiri Baraka. — Mission Local

Dolores Huerta gets her own opera, and she’s attending Saturday night

West Edge Opera in Berkeley kicks off its season with Dolores, a world premiere inspired by labor icon Dolores Huerta and the 1965 Delano Grape Strike.

The new work — by composer Nicolas Lell Benavides and librettist Marella Martin Koch — spotlights Huerta’s early organizing years and her partnership with figures like Cesar Chavez and Larry Itliong. Huerta herself is expected to attend tonight’s opening night, August 2, at Oakland’s Scottish Rite Center. Runs through August 16. — Oaklandside

Bay Area’s Deaf Dance Festival brings bold new work and global talent

Now in its 13th year, the Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival brings together Deaf and Hard of Hearing artists from around the world — Botswana to Bogota, Jamaica to the Bay. Led by Oakland-based dancer and choreographer Antoine Hunter (Purple Fire Crow), the festival runs August 6–10 with performances and workshops in SF and Berkeley.

It’s a rare space where Deaf artists can fully express themselves, both onstage and behind the scenes, supported by Deaf-led production and layered accessibility — from sign language in multiple languages to audio descriptions and vibrating seats. — 48 Hills

New art fair to spotlight neurodivergent artists

Creativity Explored is launching a new national art fair in downtown SF next January. Funded by a $100K grant from the Svane Family Foundation, the Creativity Explored x Open Invitational will bring together neurodivergent artists from across the country during San Francisco Art Week 2026.

Admission will be free, and booth fees waived. The project expands the cultural conversation around who gets exhibited and collected, and strengthens SF’s role as a leader in inclusive art. — SF Chronicle

Mid-century Novato landmark to become Eames Design Museum

A quirky 1960s-era building once home to publisher McGraw Hill — and later Birkenstock — is being transformed into a new art and design museum by the Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity. The 88-acre Novato property will celebrate Charles and Ray Eames, the mid-century design legends behind the iconic molded chair and more.

With architecture from the firm behind SF’s de Young Museum, plans include showcasing emerging artists as well. The current Eames space in Richmond has a 1,000-person waitlist — and the Institute hopes this new site will become a world-class destination. There’s no timeline yet, but the purchase price was $36 million. — SFist

Rooftop roller rink brings summer skating to Market Street

Skate under the stars at SVN West’s rooftop rink, open Thursdays–Sundays through mid-September. With views of the San Francisco skyline, themed 21+ nights (like disco, hip-hop, and Bay Area beats), and kid-friendly events (like Character Day), there's something for everyone.

Tickets include skate rentals, and season passes offer unlimited access and food discounts. — Bucketlisters

Wine with a view

If you’ve ever wanted to sip pinot while watching waves crash below you, this roundup delivers. From redwood-flanked patios in Jenner (Fort Ross Vineyard) to Highway 1 breezes in San Simeon (Hearst Ranch Winery), these five California wineries pair coastal views with chardonnay, rosé, and even pinotage.

You can just drop in — or, if you’re the plan-ahead type, book food pairings or guided hikes between sips. — 7x7

Top Image via West Edge Opera House

Previously: Field Notes: Possums, Pixies, Plays, and Power Tools

This week’s mix of culture, nature, and flavor includes queer hikes, show-tune karaoke, booza ice cream, an Oakland-based wine company, Lake Temescal swims, Foster City Eichler homes, SF skate history, and bold films at BAMPFA.

Pride in nature

Several LGBTQ+ groups around the Bay Area are hosting outdoor events during Pride Month to create inclusive, welcoming spaces in nature. Activities include birdwatching with Queer Birders Bay Area and Queers of a Feather, which provide gear and beginner-friendly guidance. Queer Surf hosts beach events and lessons that celebrate gender diversity in surfing culture.

Branching Out Adventures and the Rainbow Sierrans lead hikes and camping trips with a focus on accessibility and community-building. The San Francisco Hiking Club, active since the 1980s, continues to connect queer people through weekly scenic treks.—KQED

Show tunes and karaoke

A Broadway-themed singalong bar is opening in SF’s Marina District on June 26, offering a full immersive musical theater experience, including show-tune karaoke, red carpet photo ops, and themed cocktails like the “Ozmopolitan.” From Hamilton to Phantom, it’s your chance to belt it out with fellow fans. Early reservations are now open via SFBucketList.—SFBucketList

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Summer swims and scenic trails at Lake Temescal

Lake Temescal, a serene reservoir in the Oakland Hills, is open daily for the 2025 summer swim season. Just under an hour from SF via BART and bus, it features a sandy beach with lifeguards, a peaceful trail, fishing, picnicking, and WPA-era architecture.

Temescal Creek was dammed in 1868 to provide drinking water to the East Bay, and the lake’s stone beach house dates to the 1930s. Two playgrounds and shady groves round out this East Bay gem.—Secret San Francisco

San Francisco’s skateboarding culture and legacy

SFGovTV’s new short documentary explores how San Francisco helped shape global skateboarding culture. More than just a pastime, skating is part of the city’s identity—etched into its hills, plazas, and neighborhoods. The film highlights its gritty history, iconic street spots, and influential skaters.—SFGovTV

Booza in the Bay

Booza, a stretchy traditional Arab ice cream, is making its mark on the Bay. The rare treat is available at Berkeley’s Roast & Toast, where Palestinian owner Fadi Alhour serves classic and cardamom-rose flavors topped with pistachio and crispy kataifi.

Booza is also sold at Levant Dessert in Menlo Park and SF’s Dalida, and a few local markets carry packaged versions made in Texas. Its elastic texture comes from orchid root and tree resin, making it dense and slow-melting—perfect for summer.—Chronicle

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Changing the face of wine—from Oakland

Jonathan Yang and Tiffani Patton are reimagining wine from their base in Oakland. As the duo behind Laughing Gems, they craft natural wines that reflect their Chinese American and Black and Korean American heritage—designed to pair with the bold flavors they grew up with.

Their fizzy Muscat Pet-Nat and orange Muscat “Florascent” cut through rich foods, and their labels feature playful designs by local artists. They got their start at Purity Wine in Richmond, and now they're building a culture that feels like home.—EaterSF

Eichlers, bayfront living, and fair housing

Foster City is home to 200 Mid-Century Modern Eichler homes built between 1964–1966 across three neighborhoods. Known for their open layouts, glass walls, and indoor-outdoor flow, the homes reflect a bold vision of equitable housing championed by developer Joseph Eichler, who sold to buyers of all races when discrimination was still legal.

While some have been remodeled, others are being lovingly restored. Their legacy is matched by Foster City's original vision of blending modern living with open space and nature.—The Eichler Network

Global stories and bold directors at BAMPFA

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive’s Summer and Fall 2025 film lineup explores memory, identity, and endurance across international cinema. Programs include Robert Altman at 100 and In Lonely Places, expanding noir into uncanny suburbs and isolation.

Retrospectives of Tsai Ming-liang, Mikio Naruse, and Tarkovsky highlight solitude and human connection, while works by Vivien Hillgrove and Bruce Conner showcase transformation through editing. From The 400 Blows to A Photographic Memory, it’s a season of storytelling that spans continents and generations.—Broke-Ass Stuart

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Top image: Still from 'A Photographic Memory,' screening at BAMPFA on June 28 and July 20

Previously: Field Notes: New Peninsula Trail Network, Nesting Falcons, and Black History in California

Field Notes highlights moments of connection, culture, and community across the Bay Area—from a new Peninsula trail network and thriving raptors to Japantown’s retail revival, a Mission escape room, Black history exhibits, and Oakland’s tribute to a cherished mentor.

654-acre Peninsula estate launches new trail network

Filoli, an historic 654-acre estate on unceded Ramaytush Ohlone land in Woodside, has launched a new trail network guided by six giant trolls by Danish artist Thomas Dambo. The whimsical Trolls: Save the Humans exhibit marks a shift from manicured gardens to wild spaces, inviting visitors to explore two miles of easy trails through redwoods, willow houses, and playful art. It’s part of Filoli’s effort to reconnect with the land’s deeper roots and invite broader public engagement through nature, history, and imagination. [7x7]

The raptors are alright

Pinnacles National Park’s 2025 nesting season is off to a strong start. Biologists are monitoring four peregrine falcon and nine prairie falcon territories, with most pairs actively nesting. Other raptors, including golden eagles, long-eared owls, and white-tailed kites, are also settling in. After years of concern—from DDT’s legacy to avian flu outbreaks—this “wonderfully normal” season is a welcome sign for the park’s recovering raptor population. [Pinnacles National Park]

Retail revival in Japantown

While downtown’s San Francisco Centre continues to shed tenants, Japantown’s Japan Center Mall and the Stonestown Galleria are thriving—thanks to a wave of Asian retailers, nostalgic collectibles, and student-friendly entertainment like arcades, escape rooms, and karaoke bars.

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With nearly full occupancy and rising foot traffic, both malls show how cultural relevance, safe neighborhoods, and suburban-style accessibility are reshaping the city’s retail future. [Chronicle]

Unlocking connection in the Mission

Lore, a new speakeasy-style escape room, opens June 12 in San Francisco’s Mission District, inviting guests into a whimsical world of puzzles, Vietnamese-inspired cocktails, and Mad Hatter–style tea parties.

Founder Vy Tran created the space as a response to the loneliness epidemic—and as a love letter to the city that made her dream possible. In an open letter on Lore’s website, she writes, “I hope you meet someone new and that you’ll plan new adventures together.”

In a recent Reddit post, Tran explains how she taught herself building codes, drafted her own architectural plans, and made 80 trips to the Department of Building Inspection to bring Lore to life. Her long-term vision is to expand it into a full underground universe of wonder and connection, according to the Chronicle.

Black history in the American West

Two major exhibitions are honoring Black history in California, offering a fuller, richer picture of the American West:

• Black Gold: Stories Untold at the Presidio, reframing the Gold Rush through Black resilience, entrepreneurship, and military service. [FOR-SITE]

• Routed West at BAMPFA, showcasing over 100 historic quilts from African American families who migrated to California. [BAMFA]

“Be Like Boomer”

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee declared June 6 Dr. Marvin Boomer Jr. Day in honor of the beloved Castlemont High mentor and College and Career Pathways Coach who was killed in a hit-and-run last week.

At his memorial service, a student returned a stuffed bear she’d promised to give him when she graduated. His partner, Nina Woodruff, called him “Mr. Wonderful.” The city is urging everyone to carry his legacy forward. [KRON4]

Top image: Yinka Shonibare, CBE, Man Moving Up, 2022 at Black Gold: Stories Untold                          

Facebook founder and fleece enthusiast Mark Zuckerberg toured Montana's Glacier National Park on July 15 and as one might imagine, the tour's guest list was a hot-button issue.

KPIX 5 reports that the Department of the Interior, under the administration of President Donald J. Trump, decided not to let park superintendent Jeff Mow and U.S. Geological Survey ecologist Daniel Fagre accompany Zuckerberg on the tour as they planned to and instead have him escorted by four park rangers.

Officials with the department insist this isn't because they were concerned over scientists broaching the climate debate but rather because letting Mow and Fagre tag along would cost taxpayers too much money.

"...Every tax dollar matters," said agency spokeswoman Heather Swift, whose boss uses tax dollars to fly back and forth to his golf course in Florida.

Lucky for science, Zuckerberg already knows about climate change because it's real and exists. He posted pictures and an update from his trip to the park on his Facebook page, saying:

"I'm spending the afternoon at Glacier National Park in Montana with some National Park Service Rangers. The impact of climate change is very clear at Glacier. In the last hundred years, the average global temperature has risen 1.5 degrees. But in the high elevations of Montana where Glacier is the temperature is warming at 3x the global average -- enough to melt glaciers. Since the 1850s, the number of glaciers here has gone from 150 to 25. In a couple of decades, there may not be any glaciers left in the park at all. The people here have no idea what the effects will be when glacier water stops flowing into the ecosystem. Thanks to all the rangers for all you do and for showing me around such an amazing place. We need to make sure parks like Glacier -- and the planet overall -- are around for future generations to enjoy."

See? No need to bring a scientist along. This incredibly powerful global businessman doesn't need any more information that he already has.

Related: Mark Zuckerberg's San Francisco Neighbors Have Just About Had It With Him

Like a bower bird desperately seeking to attract a mate, Caltrans and other agencies have spent perhaps lavishly to maintain the habitat of the double-crested cormorants who made their nests on the old Bay Bridge span. In fact, the MTC even scheduled phases of the demolition of the old eastern span so as not to interfere with the birds' annual nesting season. Doing so reportedly cost millions to the state, but the cormorants are a state-protected “species of special concern" and legally require such accommodations. Was that sum and the $1 million spent trying to induce them to shack up beneath the new span of the bridge, using bird calls over outdoor speakers, decoy cormorants, and more, really worth it? Should $709,000 have been spent on stainless-steel nesting platforms where the birds have yet to perch?

“We really thought when the old span was removed, they would choose to move over to the new span,” Metropolitan Transportation Commission spokesperson Randy Rentschler tells Matier and Ross, who went birding for their latest Chronicle column. “We did our best, but they didn’t.”

Despite 12 years of noisy construction on the new Bay Bridge span that began in 2002, the cormorants never departed their nests. But in 2009, perhaps due to a population crash of northern anchovy, a staple food for the cormorants, the birds failed to breed, and bridge colonies declined to 252 nests from a height of 1,296 in 2007. That's according to accounting by seabird biologist Mark Rauzon in the April-June issue of Bay Nature magazine.

Rauzon calls the cormorants #8217;an “only in San Francisco” story: "The Bay bridges [the Bay Bridge and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge] have provided the cormorants with both benefits and challenges... They got a short commute to feeding grounds and a cool place to nest, but they have also had to contend with required bridge maintenance." It seemed likely that some of the displaced cormorant colony would flee to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, but that structure's underside was closed off for construction and maintenance.

"Our urban cormorants are at a crossroads. Where will they turn?" Rauzon asks. "Will they learn to live on the new bridge? Relocate to the South Bay salt ponds? Fly out to the Farallones, or wait out the Richmond Bridge work? I hope that once the old Bay Bridge is gone some genius cormorant will discover that the new bridge platforms are open, and the colony will begin to settle in."

It's possible that some are already on their way: Wildlife monitors confirmed two cormorants have landed, the Chronicle reports, and were enjoying their new accommodations. “Too early to know yet if this will lead to actual nesting on the platforms," Retschler told Matier and Ross, "but hey, ‘Woo hoo!’”

Finally, Rauzon appears to think Matier and Ross are ruffling feathers where there's no real scandal. "Phil Matier of the San Francisco Chronicle harped about the half-million-dollar price tag," Rauzon writes, seeming to refer to the nesting platforms alone, "but Caltrans was in fact complying with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. If nothing were done, the birds would relocate to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and the power towers of the South Bay, adding greatly to those maintenance costs. Public money would likely have to be spent one place or another."

Related: The Bay Bridge's Bird Problem, By The Numbers

A couple of Lorax types at the Planning Department launched a year-long tree tabulation last January, EveryTreeSF census, and now the results are in. A 2012 partial tree census in the Bayview, North Beach, Outer Sunset, and Western Addition neighborhoods, got the ball rolling, and for this effort, the city enlisted professional tree care company ArborPro to perform the inventory and species identification.

The grand total was 124,864 trees, roughly 20,000 more than previously thought, as Socketsite observes. There's also room for more: 39,688 planting locations were identified in the process. The count didn't include trees in parks and backyards.

When voters passed a proposition to put street tree maintenance back in city control, the number of trees was an estimated at 105,000, and the added cost to the city, which was already maintaining a third of them, was estimated to be $8 million a year from the general fund. With 20,000 more trees, it's possible the city will have to dig deeper into its coffers.

As far as variety, more than 500 species of tree were found, with the most common being the London planetree. They've all been placed on an interactive map for your convenience.

Related: SF Homeowners Could See Bills In Wake Of Storm Because Of Tree Maintenance Rules

Albino redwoods — ghastly pale, stunted versions of the famous tree species that aren't "red" (or even green) at all but instead nearly white —  have left arborists scratching their heads since they were first documented in 1866. That is — perhaps! — until now: The San Jose Mercury News has a report on the work of Zane Moore, a UC Davis Doctoral student, who has come to a compelling conclusion about the plants after analyzing albino redwood needles. At odds with preexisting ideas about the white trees, sometimes called "ghosts of the forest," Moore believes the trees could be making a positive contribution to their more verdant siblings.

The albino redwoods, which grow out of otherwise healthy redwoods, lack color due to a genetic mutation. They have no chlorophyll, the pigment that makes plants green and helps them photosynthesize. As many as 400 of them exist in California, the most of them in Santa Cruz. But rather than leaching the strength of healthy redwoods, albino redwoods might instead be absorbing toxins, pulling them out of the soil and helping other redwoods in so doing. “They are basically poisoning themselves,” Moore suggests to the Mercury News, “They are like a liver or kidney that is filtering toxins.”

“Albino redwoods are parasites," says Emily Burns, director of science at Save the Redwoods League in San Francisco, "and if these sprouts have some sort of a function, that’s really cool.”

Dave Kuty, a docent at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park who assisted Moore, puts it this way: “Maybe the albinos are acting like a sponge — to get the bad stuff out of the soil and the plants... That’s a possibility, but we need to do more research.” If it turns at that their hypothesis is correct, perhaps albino redwoods might be cloned and used to clean up waste sites.

Moore will present research at the Coast Redwood Science Symposium in Eureka this week. "With its limited range and high value, the coast redwood forest is a microcosm of many of the emerging science and management issues facing today’s forested landscape," a description of that symposium explains. "As new information is collected and new management approaches and treatments tried, it is critical that policies and strategies guiding use and management within the redwood region be reviewed and updated based on objective scientific information."

Related: To Save A 100-Foot Tree, Inner Richmond Couple Consults Planning Commission (And A Shaman)

For Oakland's Debbie Viess, all mushrooms are a bit magical. "They're ephemeral," the co-founder of the Bay Area Mycological Society tells SFist. "Of course you can walk in the woods most of the year, and you see trees, birds, a lizard, a frog. But you don't see the mushrooms. Then it starts to rain, and it's magic."

Wet winter weather has summoned fungi to tree and field, and with them come mycology enthusiasts. "You never know what you're going to see," Viess glows, "we see strange manifestations — mushrooms take different forms even within a species — and as a bonus you can eat some of them." Think chanterelles and black trumpets run riot, which due to drought conditions had previously been slim pickings.

Just yesterday at Point Reyes, a preferred environment for both groups, Viess and her husband, society co-founder David Rust, led 200 participants in lectures and foraging forays. The occasion: The 11th annual Fungus Fair, which this year has swollen and spread in size like some sort of, well, you get the idea.

Roughly an hour from the Society's East Bay roots, Point Reyes National Seashore is something of a mycological mecca. They're "really pro-fungi," Viess explains, providing some of the most generous collecting policies of any of National Park. By contrast, "mostly the regulations around collecting mushrooms in California are insanely strict," she observes.

Foragers can gather two gallons of mushrooms per trip, with one bonus mushroom. That quirky rule is the legacy of the late Larry Stickney, a San Francisco mycologist whom Viess calls "a looming figure in our world." The logic is a mushroom gatherer might encounter one specimen on the way out of the park and find themselves unable to pass it over. There's no commercial hunting allowed, Viess emphasizes, but "that doesn't mean people aren't poaching," she says, "which is not cool."

David Cruz via Flickr

Though the cohort collected "a mountain" of mushrooms thanks to recent rain, "we're really not out of the woods yet," Viess, who is given to natural metaphor, was quick to add. "The trees have been super stressed, and most of the mushrooms that people are concerned about are edible species that are symbiotic with trees." Chanterelles, for example are partial to Oaks, and so on.

"If the trees suffer, those mushrooms suffer too. Even though we have finally had some good rains, the whole ecosystem is still catching up." That unsettles Viess as well. "People are stressed... we're all part of the same system," she sagely observes. "We can't separate ourselves." On the bright side: As the Examiner reports, rain is expected throughout the week in the Bay Area, with CBS 5 calling for up to 5 inches of precipitation.

David Cruz via Flickr

The Bay Area Mycological Society can vouch for around 550 different species of the fungi in Point Reyes alone, but one, the edible amanita velosa, Viess identifies as her favorite. Be warned, though: "It could be easily mistaken for the deadly amanitas," so she counsels caution. "It's just something you have to learn how to do, you don't just get behind the wheel of a jet plane and take off without training."

Related: 6.4 Billion Gallons Of Water Landed In Lake Tahoe Since Yesterday

A photo posted by Eve Batey (@evelb) on Jul 22, 2015 at 4:31pm PDT

Surely I'm not the only person who assumed that the above sign, posted to a fence at an Francisco's Maritime National Historical Park, was some sort of art prank, like the activities of the Billboard Liberation Front or that No Tech Zone guy. But I was wrong! They actually mark the spot where a visitor to SF had his skull crushed by a 16-pound pine cone, leaving him brain damaged. Now that man is suing for millions, in the hope that no one else will share his strange and tragic fate.

Sean Mace, a U.S. Navy veteran, was visiting San Francisco for Fleet Week 2014 when he settled in at Maritime Park "to read and rest," the Chron reports. Unfortunately, he was unaware that he took a seat under several bunya pines, an Australian tree known for huge seed pods which can grow to as big as 40 pounds before they fall.

Mace had dozed off beneath these trees when one of the pods broke loose, striking him in the head. According to court documents, he was "rushed to San Francisco General Hospital, where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain from internal bleeding. Five days later, another surgery was required to further relieve pressure building inside his skull, " the Chron reports.

According to SF-based attorney Scott Johnson, who is representing Mace, his client will eventually need a third surgery, as well as "lifetime care."

“This guy has an irreversible brain injury and he’s only in his mid-50s," Johnson tells the Chron, and in a court filing writes that Mace has "severe and likely irreversible cognitive deficits" as a result of his injuries.

Since at the time of Mace's accident there was no indication to visitors of the threat to those who linger under the non-indigenous trees, Mace is seeking $5 million from the U.S. government, the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior and San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

After Mace was injured, as many visitors to the Fisherman's Wharf area have surely seen (myself obviously included), a plastic fence with the above signs has been placed around the trees, which are located right where loads of visitors to SF pass every day.

But that's not enough, Johnson says.

"First and foremost, the Park Service needs to do something to make sure this never happens again...This park is full of tourists and schoolchildren. Something needs to change."

But while a fix to the Park might be easy, solving Mace's problems will prove more challenging, Johnson tells the Chron.

“He’s afraid to go outside at this point because he’s afraid something is going to hit him in the head."

"Our priority is to institute change and help this guy out. He was doing pretty well before the accident, and now he is completely dependent.”

Two young campers were killed in Yosemite National Park this morning when a oak tree's limb fell onto their tent as they slept.

According to Yosemite National Park spokesman Scott Gediman, the two minors were in a tent in Yosemite Valley's Upper Pines Campground when the limb fell at around 5 a.m. Friday.

"Park Rangers responded to the campground to provide medical assistance," Gediman said, "yet both minors were deceased."

Details on the victims are still unknown, as "the names, ages, and places of residence of the victims are not being released," the National Park Service said in a statement, and NBC4 reports that as of 12:30 this afternoon, "the Stanislaus County Corner had not yet received the bodies and couldn't offer any more information."

According to KTLA, the Upper Pines Campground is "largely wooded" and "is regularly booked within minutes of reservations becoming available." It contains 238 campsites, and either near capacity or full when the tragedy occurred, the Associated Press reports.

"August is peak season at Yosemite," the Chron reports, "where more than a half million people visit during the month, most spending time in the picturesque Valley" where this morning's incident occurred.

The LA Times reported in May that over 12 million trees in California national forests have died as a result of the current drought. According to the National Weather Service, things have been especially dry in Yosemite, temperatures in the 80s and 90s all of July and August. Temps hit a high of 97 in the park yesterday, the NWS says.

However, it would be premature to blame the drought for this one, as Gediman says an investigation must still be conducted to determine why the limb fell.

At the San Francisco Aquarium, a romp or raft of otters (those are real terms, folks) had a snowy treat this season. That's right, real snow was dumped on the otter playground/enclosure, either for the otters' enjoyment, or more likely for our enjoyment of their enjoyment.

Though they look very happy, otters, which are in fact weasels, would also be happy killing their prey. River otters mostly kill and eat fish, but they also like larger crustaceans and amphibians.

I'm not saying otters should be endangered, which they are. I'm just reminding you that these otters' seafaring cousins are decidedly evil. Neither am I saying these guys aren't adorable! Look at them go! It's just that life on earth is complex!

These three river otters came to the Bay in 2013, rescued from fur traders in Lousiana. They're named Shasta, Tubbs, and Wildcat and their now permanent exhibition is called "Otters: Watershed Ambassadors."

• San Francisco has a love-hate relationship with the Pacific chorus frog. [BayNature]
  
• This video takes you on a tour of opening night at Chris Cosentino's Cockscomb. [Eater]
  
• The Street Sheet got a redesign and will now cost $2. [Examiner]
  
• If you got were told of a “Failure to Appear” warrant for not participating in jury duty, it could be part of a scam. Or you didn't go to jury duty. [Examiner]
  
• The group Anonymous has claimed responsibility for hacking Oakland City and OPD websites. [SFBay]
  
• The Board of Supes is now cool with brewing beer along the Third Street corridor in the Bayview where it was previously restricted. [SF Business Times]
  
• The Berkeley lecturer who offered her students an extension if they were involved in protests has received threats and deleted her twitter account. [CBS SF]
  
• The post officer is in need of Santa's helpers to answer children's letters. [ABC7]
  
• Newly minted BART Director Nick Josefowitz is hiring an aide and offering to pay their salary himself. [Chronicle]
  
• Here's Mashable’s guide to our city's design and architecture [Mashable]
  

Hummingbird kicking it at home. Photo by Gerard Livernois.