A lone swan is swimming on the Eel River at Benbow. Though swans are not unknown in the area, it is somewhat rare to see one in Southern Humboldt. The swans breed and raise their young in Arctic areas at the tip of the North American continent. Then they migrate south to winter on estuaries […]
Animals
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Crab Quality Delays Commercial Season Opening
The commercial crab season for Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties is being delayed due to “poor crab meat quality tests,” according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. But there’s still hope for crab by New Year’s, if not Christmas. In a Nov. 15 memo, CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham wrote that “quality […]
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Briceland Road Closure May Not Be Needed
Steve Finch, the county of Humboldt’ road division manager, hopes the Briceland road closure might not have to happen. The culprit, a failing culvert on Briceland Thorn Road just west of Redway, had State Parks and the county for ways to make the repairs, which originally included making upgrades on the only available detour — […]
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CHP, Sheriff’s Office Upping the Enforcement Ante on Driving Around Livestock
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and CHP are jointly “beefing up” (their words, not ours) enforcement around and awareness of driving on county roads with livestock crossings. According to a release, both agencies “CHP have received numerous reports of livestock being struck by motorists” over the last year. “As a rural county, several Humboldt County […]
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Gray Whale Found Washed Up on Agate Beach
A gray whale was discovered washed up on Agate Beach yesterday amid an elevated number of strandings along the west coast of North America this year that has scientists working to uncover the reason for the anomaly. The adult male’s beaching comes about two weeks after a humpback whale that was found entangled in fishing […]
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Watch Out for Wandering Wildlife in the Roadways
Wildlife is on the move this time of year, which means drivers need to be even more cautious while traveling the region’s rural roads and highways. According to a joint release from Caltrans and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, vehicle-wildlife collisions “typically peak” this time of year, when animals are migrating to their […]
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Rollback of Endangered Species’ Protections Raising Fears
The Trump administration’s move to weaken what many see as key aspects of the Endangered Species Act is garnering outrage and pushback, with critics fearing a greater deterioration of the natural world amid the planet’s growing biodiversity crisis. Credited with saving the bald eagle — among many iconic species, including several on the North Coast […]
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North Coast Night Lights: Unexpected Magic: Rabbit Stargazer
What makes a photograph special isn’t always what was planned but what happens instead. Of course, sometimes what happens instead can make a mess of things. One has no choice in the matter, but it seems to me that if I’m open to the possibility that something unexpected can make the photo better then delightful […]
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North Coast Night Lights: A Humboldt Commute
I was where I wanted to be, out beneath the moonless night sky overlooking the Redwood Highway, watching others passing through the night on their separate journeys to their own destinations. What a wonderfully beautiful commute they had, I thought: redwood forests, clear air, the rivers, perhaps the rugged coast. Lucky we are to live […]
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Barney the Old Town Horse Has Died
Blue Ox Historic Village announced on its Facebook page last night that “Barney,” the Old Town Carriage Co. draft horse, died unexpectedly over the weekend. According to the short post, Barney had been treated for a variety of ailments of late but “it appears that there was some type of neurological issue that came on […]
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Oh, Deer!
A fawn whose mother was killed by a car on State Route 36 was cared for at the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office today after a passerby brought the young deer in. According to a post on the HCSO Facebook page, the young deer spent the morning hanging out in the sergeant’s office before being taken […]
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Benbow Eaglet Faces Close Call With Fire
Southern Humboldt County nature lovers were very concerned today as a wildfire burning in the Benbow area closed in on a nest holding a 12-week-old eaglet that has not yet taken to flight. “It was really close, and the helicopter was buzzing right past the nest,” said nature photographer Talia Rose, who runs the popular […]