Weather Watching With all the talk about an especially wet El Niño year, volunteers are encouraged to join the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS). The data collected helps form the official weather alerts and forecasts from the National Weather Service. The activity has school project potential for young ones.
Otter Spotting Become a citizen scientist and collect data, including photos and video that will provide insight into otters’ range, habitats, behavior and reproduction. Volunteer observers report on river otters in neighborhood streams, rivers and bays; the information collected appears on an ArcGIS map that is updated quarterly. riverotterecology.org
Raptor Counting Join other volunteer hawk counters as they identity and log up to 19 species of raptor every autumn. All the activities take place in the Marin Headlands and help the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy look for trends in hawk populations over time. Hawk watchers are recruited every spring, with trainings beginning in July.
