On a sunny day at Pepperwood Preserve in Sonoma County, students– new naturalists– spoke of seed banks and fire cycles in the chapparal, birds’ feet, native bees and flowers that change color, grasses which do and don’t belong here, leaf phenology and birds’ nests. Thanks to the instructor, biologist Shawn Brumbaugh, for inviting me. This was the … Continue reading New Naturalists: speaking of fire, native bees, and birds’ feet…