In the spring of 2020, as eight million residents of the Bay Area hunkered down at home hoarding toilet paper and dried beans, the natural world sprang to life. By night, San Francisco’s darkened, deserted streets echoed with the howl of coyotes. By day, they filled with the song of birds. It wasn’t just that the pandemic-induced pause in activity made it easier to hear urban wildlife. Some animals adapted almost instantaneously to exploit soundscapes vacated by traffic and construction. In the unnatural quiet of the Bay Area, amid noise…
