I used the short, sunny Saturday afforded by our winter this week to hike again out to the old swing bridge of the now defunct Dumbarton Cutoff Line. Built in 1909 as a shortcut between Newark and Redwood City, this rail line featured the first bridge to span San Francisco Bay. The line, which [...]
I have had a fine time this fall exploring salt ponds immediately north of Alameda Creek. This area includes Salt Ponds E6B, E8, and E8X with the latter two scheduled for a return to tidal flow in the near future. While these are all large ponds in the way of modern salt production, they [...]
I have been on a bit of a binge lately with five KAP sessions in South San Francisco Bay during the last week. September is a special month for my work in the Hidden Ecologies project. There is always a month or so this time of the year when my six-month hiatus due to the [...]
The Fall Stakeholder’s Meeting for the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project wrapped up on 17 September around 5:30. Rather than face I-880 traffic I made a detour to Salt Pond A23 for a quick KAP session as the sun was setting – an altogether sublime experience. I had been keeping an eye on the [...]
As the summer waned I found myself waited for the snowy plover chicks to fledge. I cannot KAP at most of the South Bay salt ponds between February and September in deference of the plover’s slightly anxious nesting behavior. Last year I was able to KAP in late summer at the M-Ponds near Mowry Slough. [...]
On Sunday I made my eighth hike out to Drawbridge (permit required!), a deserted town in the middle of South San Francisco Bay where the only firm ground was manmade land. This little town, once home to a couple hundred folks, was situated on Station Island along the first rail line to cross the Bay. [...]
The ruins of the Alvarado Salt Works lie along what was once a channel of Alameda Creek outside of present day Union City, California. This was one of the first South Bay Salt Pond sites to catch my eye, in large part because of the ruins of an old trussed bridge that crosses what seems [...]
This Saturday Wayne and I led a hike sponsored by Bay Nature magazine out to the Weep, a ditch just north of Alviso, California. Wayne Lanier and I worked with editor Dan Rademacher on a photo essay “Out at the WEEP – a curious search for life in a ditch” for the last issue of [...]
Reaching into his shoulder bag, journalist Tim Lesle rummaged for a fresh pencil then returned to taking notes during our Sunday afternoon hike at Crissy Field. His efforts led to a nicely written article for California magazine describing my kite aerial photography and the Hidden Ecologies Project. Tim is a fun guy to work [...]
The annual Maker Faire is coming to the San Mateo Fairgrounds on Saturday, 30 May and Sunday, 31 May. As before I will be on hand to man a KAP Collective booth and this year will be displaying a set of photographs taken over the South Bay salt ponds. It is a fun event, so [...]