A Bay in the Life

Looking for campfire stories, roasted marshmallows and hot chocolate?

The California Department of Fish and Game and the Orange County Harbors, Beaches and Parks may have just what you need.

The groups offered a nature program recently at the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Preserve in Newport Beach. Before a rapt crowd of children and adults, paleontologist Steve Conkling explained 60 million years of Back Bay history.

“We talked about the ancient fossils and animals that had been discovered in Orange County and what they tell us about the environment since the age of the dinosaurs,” says Conkling, president of the Orange County Natural History Assn., which has a museum in San Juan Capistrano.

Conkling, 35, says he knew he wanted to be a paleontologist when he was 5 (“I gave my first tour at age 6”). He officially became one in 1986.

His mission?

“To talk to people and show them why fossils are cool.”

Upcoming events led by naturalists at the ecological preserve include:

* Twilight Canoe Tour. Saturday. Meet at Shellmaker Island at 6 p.m. for this three-hour tour and slide presentation with hot dogs, hot chocolate and marshmallows around a campfire. $5 (free for children under 10). (714) 642-5031.

* Canoe the Back Bay. Saturdays. Meet at Shellmaker Island at 8:30 a.m. $13. Reservations: (714) 640-6746.

* Kayak Tours. Sundays. Meet at Newport Dunes, 1131 Back Bay Drive, Newport Beach at 10 a.m. $15. (800) 585-0747.

* Bay Walking Tours. First and third Saturday of the month. Meet at Shellmaker Island at 9 a.m. Bring binoculars and sun protection. Free.

* Newport Bay Tours. Second Saturday of the month (October-March). Meet at the corner of Eastbluff and Back Bay Drive between 9 a.m.-10:15 a.m. Free.

* The Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve and Regional Park is at 600 Shellmaker Road, Newport Beach. Information: (714) 640-6746.