Do you like photography? nature? Join the California King Tides Initiative documenting the year’s highest tides — levels likely to become the “new normal” as sea level rises due to global warming. King Tides will occur about 8:50 AM Fri., Jan. 20; 9:40 AM Sat., Jan. 21, and 10:30 AM Sun., Jan. 22. The idea is to (a) identify areas vulnerable to tidal flooding, erosion, or other damage and (b) gather compelling images to promote awareness and support action to deal with climate change. The project seeks photos of areas likely to flood or erode, that have infrastructure that might be affected. For information, go to www.californiakingtides.org.

Friends of Five Creeks would like to document the “heads of tide” — the farthest inland reaches of tides in creeks and channels. For information and ideas on good sites in the East Bay, click here.

Congratulations to Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association on restoring two of the giant concrete urns that graced the 100-year-old subdivision. (BPFP is fiscal sponsor for this project.) Please join Berkeley Path Wanderers Association on a 1 PM walk from Great Stoneface Park, exploring Thousand Oaks history and ending at 3 PM with dedication of the urns. All welcome!

UC Professor of Entomology Gordon Frankie speaks on native bees and other pollinators and how to create habitat for them in your garden, at noon this Saturday, July 9, at Peralta Comunity Garden, 1400 Peralta Ave., Berkeley. Enjoy bee-related refreshments and this beautiful community garden, too! An added bonus for making your yard a haven for native bees: they don’t sting!

Free, all welcome. More information on native bees at http://nature.berkeley.edu/urbanbeegardens/.

“The Big Uneasy” is the first documentary by long-time “mockumentarian” Harry Shearer (of Spinal Tap and The Simpsons). The film follows three remarkable people–the leaders of two scientific investigation teams, and one whistleblower–as they reveal the true story of why New Orleans flooded, and why it could happen in other cities across America.

Shearer speaks to the tireless investigators and experts who poked through the muck as the water receded, and uncovers a courageous whistle-blower from the Army Corps of Engineers. His dogged pursuit of facts reveals that some of the same flawed methods responsible for levee failure during Hurricane Katrina are being used to rebuild the system expected to protect the “new” New Orleans from future peril.

To learn more about the film and watch the trailer you can visit www.thebiguneasy.com.

Green Day fans helping restore Codornices Creek for Green Day Across the World

On Saturday, May 28, fans of Green Day helped Friends of Five Creeks restore Codornices Creek, just two blocks from The Gilman all-ages night spot, where the East Bay punk-rock group got its first big break. They went on to sell 65 million records, win four grammies, and write a rock musical now on its way from Broadway to national tour. Fans declared May 28 Green Day Across the World, with environmental volunteering from Chile to Thailand and more.

Saturday, June 4, 10 AM – 12:30 PM, Friends of Five Creeks and Codornices Creek Watershed Council will again welcome volunteers, meeting at Codornices Creek and Eighth Street (1100 Eighth), two blocks north of Gilman, on the south edge of University Village. For National Trails Day, we’ll do light weeding to heavy pruning along the creekside trail. All welcome — tools, gloves, and snacks provided; work party will end with an interpretive walk along the creek. Information at 510 848 9358, f5creeks@aol.com, www.fivecreeks.org.

Congratulations to BPFP partner groups East Bay Green Parks Association and Los Amigos de Codornices for a very successful April 30 work party — more than 20 volunteers cleared a vast amount of ivy and broom in Codornices Park. While East Bay GPA has worked wonders in restoring the Codornices Creek canyon in the park recently, this was Los Amigos first volunteer activity in 15 years! The workers even “unveiled” some of the natives planted by Los Amigos a generation ago, when the group was a pioneer in nature restoration in Berkeley.

Join them 10 AM – noon Saturday, May 21, for another weed-pulling work party. Information at www.codornices.org.

This Saturday (April 16) is the Berkeley Bay Festival, with lots of fun activities. Free sailboat rides, tidepool walks, live music, dragon-boat rides, hands-on science exhibits in the brand-new nature classroom, dedication ceremony for the Berkeley Meadow, and lots more.

More info: www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=62584

BPFP will have a table at the event from Noon-4:30pm, near the Shorebird Park Nature Center (on the left just a little before you get to the long pier). We’d love to say hi if you are at the festival, please come by our table. Or if you could come for an hour and join us at the table, that would be great–please reply to me or phone me at 540-7223. If you have any hand-outs that would be interesting, let me know that too.

Charlie Bowen (Ms), Chair
Berkeley Partners for Parks–BPFP