If you’re revving your engines for the start of racing at Redwood Acres Racetrack, you’ll have to wait. The predicted heavy rains are delaying tomorrow’s kick-off but not for long. April 28 ticket holders can use them on Saturday, May 5, when the track will be roaring with roadrunners, legends, bombers, mini stocks and bandoleros […]
Outdoors
Posted inNews
Cruise Ships Coming to Humboldt Bay
The city of Eureka announced today that fledgling efforts to bring cruise ships to Humboldt Bay have been successful, with the first such ship arriving Monday, May 21. According to its press release, the city, in association with the Humboldt Bay Harbor District, formed a partnership with Eureka Main Street, the Eureka Visitor Center and former city council candidate […]
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8 Year Old Found Dead After Being Swept Out to Sea
The U.S. Coast Guard has recovered the body of an 8-year-old girl who was swept out to sea near Big Lagoon yesterday afternoon. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office reports that the girl was swept into the ocean while jumping into waves on the ocean side of the lagoon at about 3:15 p.m. yesterday. Sheriff’s deputies […]
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Stolen Succulents Replanted at Stone Lagoon
More than 1,000 succulents pilfered for sale overseas in by what the California Department of Fish and Wildlife described as an “international conspiracy” were returned to nature on Tuesday by a team of volunteers who planted them along the bluffs at Stone Lagoon. Those plants were among some 2.300 taken from near Trinidad by a […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Beetles and Gadgets
It was cool and windy when my friend and I went for a walk at the Humboldt Bay Wildlife Refuge area. Large flocks of geese attested to the success of conservation efforts over recent decades. Egrets, grebes, ducks of several species, mud hens and one of my all time favorite song birds, bi-colored blackbirds put […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: It’s a Jungle Out There
It rained this morning, giving me an excuse to not mow and enjoy the little English lawn daisies a little longer. Small flowers attract small critters and there was drama aplenty among the blades of grass. First off, the zombie dung flies (Scathophaga stercoraria) are back right on schedule. The fungus Entomophthora muscae infects some […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: A March of Butterflies
It’s been a long, wet and cold March, but one sunny day brought out the early spring butterflies. I watched half a dozen California tortoise shells (Nymphalis californica) feed and chase each other among the flowers clothing my green gage plum trees. I’m not sure if these aerial acrobatics were part of a mating ritual […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Wings of the Fly
A reader recently suggested I write about a particular anatomical feature of the order diptera, which contains about 60,000 known species including flies, mosquitoes, crane flies, midges and gnats. Unlike most other flying insects with four wings, members of this group have only two. Evolution has reduced their rear wings to tiny club-shaped structures called […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Bumbling into Spring
It snowed here Monday night and has been cold for the rest of the week. Because insects are cold blooded, this means there just weren’t many out and about, but I did get buzzed by a bumblebee feeding on the newly emerged pussy willows. I don’t think they get much nectar from any individual catkin, […]
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More Brrrr in the Forecast This Week
That really cold weather thing is not over yet. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for Thursday, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m., for interior areas of Humboldt County above 2,000 feet, including Berry Summit. Snow accumulation of 3 to 4 inches is possible, according to the advisory, creating hazardous travel conditions. […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Home Again
Returning from a two week vacation near Olympia, Washington, where I saw practically no bugs at all, I was greeted with a large millipede and a spider at my front door. It’s good to be home. Spring, I find, is springing all around. Judging by daffodil blooms here in Humboldt County, we’re about two weeks […]
Posted inArts + Scene
All the Marbles
The Humboldt Marble Weekend attracted a large crowd of marble fans of all ages to Redwood Acres in Eureka over the weekend to watch 46 glass artists display their creative work (not just marbles) and also conduct glass-making demonstrations. See the photo slideshow below for highlights. “We started the fun Thursday night, raising $1,540 for […]