naturalist

A Mushroom Walk with Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History

Marisa Gomez holds a Gomphaceae (coral fungus) and a copy of Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Credit: Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History

Learning the names, habitats and behaviors of local fungi in the Santa Cruz Mountains makes this writer want to know more.

Planting A Fall Garden? Read This First.

Persimmon trees: a good source of food for local wildlife. Photo by Geomr on Wikimedia Commons.

Santa Cruz naturalist Randall Morgan has some creative suggestions about the best plants to attract birds and insects.

Randall Morgan on The Amazing Tern

An elegant tern at the top of its dive-bomb fishing maneuver—showing how it got its name. Photo by Regular Daddy.

Among Santa Cruz's rich community of amateur and professional naturalists, Randall Morgan is beloved for his knowledge, passion and wit. As Hilltromper's unofficial Naturalist-in-Residence, he answers our questions—this week, about the beautiful seabirds called terns.