What's New
Animal of the Month:
Turkey Vulture
Tide Pools
Wildlife Viewing
Home:
Links to Plants and Animals
Animal of the Month:
Turkey Vulture
Quiz: What Animal or Plant Are You?
Quiz: What Celtic Tree Are You?
Ocean Animal Database
Fun Facts About More Than 56 Animals
General Information
About This Site
The purpose of this site is to inspire visitors of all ages, but especially children, to view and study nature. The site has 3 main focuses: a description of California tide pools and the unique creatures found there, profiles of the life and symbolism of more than 20 selected animals and plants found primarily in California and Nevada, and a database of facts about ocean animals.
The site is written and designed by myself, Sherry Weaver Smith. In addition to writing professionally part-time, I am an at-home mother to a girl born in the fall of 2003. My husband, our daughter, and our rotund black and white cat live in California. My husband participates in the site by sharing the photography duties and generally putting up with my quest to hike or drive to a variety of strange locations to find wildlife that may or may not be there at the time. Our daughter now goes along with us though her happy talking often scares the animals.
Previously I worked in product management for a healthcare database product, and earlier in my career, worked for a non-profit involved in assisting street children in the Philippines.
Published Poetry
I also have written the following poems appearing in publications below:
Wildflower haiku in Mainichi Daily News, the English version of the Mainichi Shimbun in Japan "Four Blackbirds" in Waterways: Poetry in the Mainstream, Volume 29, #2, Long Island, NY "Salvage" in In Our Own Words, Burning Bush Publications, Santa Rosa, CA "Homage, Panmunjon, South Korea" in Through the Eyes of Many: An Anthology, Livermore, CA Three haiku about the Raiders football team in the Contra Costa Times Two haiku about trick-or-treating in the Contra Costa Times "Failing to Document You" in The High Plains Register, Cheyenne, WY, 2008 "early May morning" and "tin houses and mud paths," two haiku in Sixth Annual Ukiah Haiku Festival Winners, an anthology, Ukiah, CA "Prospecting in the River's Valley," in The Gathering 9, the anthology of the Ina Coolbirth Circle, Concord, CA, available for purchase at this link. "Shades of a Landscape" in The High Plains Register, Cheyenne, WY, 2007 "Beneath Bent Pines" in Benicia Historical Museum Anthology: Love Poems Honoring an Early California Romance, Benicia, CA, 2007 Cemetery garden haiku in The Heron's Nest, a haiku journal, online, September 2007, print, March 2008 "Embarcadero" in Monterey Poetry Review, Monterey, CA, Winter 2006 "Floating Palmettos" and "How the Wind Found Its Story" in Unbound: An Anthology, Livermore, CA, 2007 "Mother's Day in a Sutter Creek Churchyard" in Remember the Future: An Anthology, Livermore, CA, 2006
Writing Contest Awards
I have placed in the following poetry competitions: First Place, Las Positas Anthology Annual Poetry Contest (2008) for "Homage, Panmunjon, South Korea" The Charlene Villella Award for Poetry, tied for first place with "Grove at Mission Santa Ines," the Pleasanton Poetry, Prose and Arts Festival (CA) Third Prize, the Dancing Poetry Festival to be held at the Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco, for "Grove at Mission Santa Ines" Honorable Mention, the Burning Bush Poetry Prize, for "Salvage, Aid Worker Report, Tondo, Manila, the Philippines" Second Place, Monthly Shiki Kukai, for my haiku about harp song. This haiku later placed 12th overall for the year out of around 1,000 haiku. First Place, "About Ukiah" category, Ukiah Haiku Festival (2008), for "early May morning" Honorable Mention, Traditional Haku category, Ukiah Haiku Festival (2008), for "tin houses and mud paths" Best of Show, Gold Award, Alameda County Fair (2007), for "Failing to Document You" Second Place, California State Poetry Society Haiku/Tanka Competition, July 2007 Silver Award, Alameda County Fair (2007), for "Jewel Box Ballerina" Silver Award, Alameda County Fair (2006), for "How the Wind Found Its Story" Honorable Mention, Alameda County Fair (2008) for "An Absence of Landmarks" 2nd Honorable Mention, California Category, Ina Coolbrith Circle (Fall 2006) for "Embarcadero" 1st Honorable Mention, Journeys Category, Ina Coolbrith Circle (Fall 2006) for "To Reach San Rafael" 2nd Honorable Mention, California Category, Ina Coolbrith Circle (Fall 2005) for "Mother's Day in a Sutter Creek Churchyard"Website Award
Awarded in August 2004 by www.glavac.com to this site for serving as useful resource for Busy Educators
Pieces Published on Other Sites
I have written the following pieces on other sites. "Sedona, Arizona: Chapel of the Holy Cross": A short essay regarding our family's travel to a "place of the spirit" published by EnVisionChurch Four Tools for Science Fair Success Teacher's Guide to Science Projects "Cemetery Garden Haiku" "Embarcadero" "Twelve-Inch Hike" "Snowy Art from Foam Peanuts" "Is Your Baby Crawling Yet?" "Creating an Effective Index" "Satisfaction Survey Results" "2007 Press Release Regarding Celtic and Nature Advent Calendar" "Advent Candle Craft Idea" "Essay Regarding a Special Christmas Ornament"
This article profiles the successful science fair programs at two schools. It appears in Science and Children, a journal of the National Science Teachers Association that circulates amongst 20,000+ elementary school teachers. Membership in NSTA is required for viewing.
This guide helps teachers to guide their students in completing inquiry-based projects while they simultaneously plan easy-to-organize science expos. The guide appears on the website of Science Buddies, a nonprofit organization devoted to providing tools for teachers, students, and parents to achieve science fair success.
This issue of the The Heron's Nest Haiku Journal contains my first published haiku. I write mostly free verse, but I have become very interested in trying to write haiku. I lived in Japan in the early 1990s, and I love the spare beauty of haiku. However, I always struggle to rein in my tendency to be verbose!
This issue of the Monterery Poetry Review contains one of my poems and a short biography.
A description of my daughter's and my "hike" in a 12-inch circle, submitted to Gary Bogue's nature column in the San Ramon Valley Times and received a hummingbird book prize
My contest-winning craft idea posted at Funplaydates.com
This article is the "All About Baby" feature on the Mommy Tales website and encourages parents to discover their babies' personalities rather than focusing on milestones.
This article, published in the Devil Mountain News, summarizes a presentation regarding indexing made by Nancy Mulvany to the East Bay Chapter of the Society of Technical Communicators.
This chart, published in the Devil Mountain News, presents results of a satisfaction survey conducted by the East Bay Chapter of the Society of Technical Communicators.
This press release, picked up by Catholic PR Wire, publicizes my site's Celtic and Nature Advent Calendar.
Enhance the meaning of Advent with this simple, inexpensive craft and activity published on Catholicmom.com.
A piece about a modest bell ornament that honors my Uncle David. Appeared in the Contra Costa Times, December 2006
Interesting Links
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/jollygreengranny/index.html
A photographic diary of wildlife in a small village in England. Finely-detailed photography and frequent updates.
http://www.earth-cards.com
Website for a company that produces nature cards featuring crisp, colorful photography and fascinating facts regarding California wildlife. Definitely useful to those of us trying to identify a bird, the site showcases photos of approximately 40 birds, and in many cases, there are up to five photos of each bird.
http://www.glavac.com
A guide for busy educators, both professional educators and parents, to the resources of the World Wide Web. The site features educational website and product reviews.
http://www.wildlifehebrides.com
Site dedicated to the wildlife of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The wildlife top ten section profiles island creatures such as the corncrake (a bird with a haunting call), and the red deer.
http://www.redrockcanyon.blm.gov/default.asp
Site focused on the Red Rock Canyon area a short drive from Las Vegas. Red Rock Canyon is an accessible area to begin to discover the Mojave Desert.
http://www.seaotters.org/
Information on sea otter biology and conservation at this offical site for Friends of the Sea Otter, an organization founded by one of my idols, California conservationist Margaret Wentworth Owings.
http://www.morro-bay.net/birds/
The official site for the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival, held every January in Morro Bay, CA, on the Central Coast of California. I have attended this festival 4 years in a row, and the field trips were outstanding, enabling me to see my first Mountain Plovers, Burrowing Owl, Brant Geese, and others.
http://www.nature.net/
Friendly forums regarding topics such as birdwatching, "name that animal," reptiles and amphibians, and others. I have posted many identification-related and other questions here, and the community is helpful and friendly.
Designed and written by Sherry Weaver Smith; last modified 5/31/2008.