Right now, the pools are at their most colorful stage of the year, filled with circles of yellow "goldfields" flowers and white "popcorn" flowers and dotted in the center with pink and purple blooms. We will have jars of live endangered species such as fairy shrimp and tadpole shrimp for viewing. We will also have a live tiger salamander, which is a candidate for endangered-species status. Scientists will be available for interviews.

If they like, reporters can act as researchers and try to find a short list of colorful and unusual plants, using a simple field guide and magnifying glasses. Come prepared to lie on your stomach (we'll have waterproof tarps), peer at the plants and conduct "belly botany."

We'll also provide a map of Sacramento-region vernal pools that are open to the public and will be pretty for about two more weeks.

Vernal pools are a little-known and vanishing remnant of natural California wilderness. UC Davis faculty members have been awarded new grants to study the pools, and what they learn could help conservation and restoration efforts.

Vernal pools are shallow depressions that fill with rainwater in winter, drain and burst into flower for a few weeks in spring, and then dry up by the end of May. This makes a very short window of opportunity for research. During their spring period of activity, the pools are home to several hundred species of tiny, uncommon plants and animals. Some animals living in vernal pools are so rare that they are on federal and state lists of endangered species. More than two-thirds of the state's naturally occurring vernal pools have been destroyed by agriculture and urban development.