Field Trips
Marin Audubon Society is providing a full schedule of free field trips for the 2023 season.
Advance registration is required for most of our trips, nearly all which have size limits to prevent overcrowding. Registration on the MAS website’s Field Trips page will open ten days before the trip date.
Trips can fill up quickly. Please register early to make sure you get a spot. If you won’t be able to attend a trip that you have registered for, please cancel using the “contact organizer” button on Ticketbud so that the spot may be opened up for someone else.
Our field trips are free to our members and the public, but we greatly appreciate your donations to support our programs and conservation projects! A donation of $35 or more qualifies you for an annual membership at Marin Audubon Society! **New Members Only
Become a Chapter Supporting Member of the Marin Audubon Society starting at $35 a year, or RENEW your membership today! Your membership helps to fund important efforts such as our ongoing habitat restoration projects, the Monarch Rescue Project, our Northern Spotted Owl Outreach program, and of course our monthly field trips and speaker series! We cannot do these important projects, along with our many other efforts, without the support of our dedicated members!
June 2023
Bear Valley & Five Brooks – Birding in Marin – Season 8, Trip 6
June 3rd - 8:30 AM - Mid Afternoon
Birding with Jim White & Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this Field Trip
Registration is required for this trip. Registration for the Bear Valley/Five Brooks trip will be open starting on May 24 at 8:00 AM.
Join Jim and Bob on this trip as part of their yearly series of Marin walks. We will start our day at Bear Valley in search of nesting birds. Next, we’ll travel to Olema Marsh and Whitehouse Pool for a look at some different habitats. Our final stop of the day will be Five Brooks where we have a chance of finding Wood Duck at the retired logging pond. We will also look for birds in the Douglas Fir forest.
DIRECTIONS: From Hwy 101 take Sir Francis Drake Blvd toward Point Reyes for about 20 miles. At Olema turn right onto Hwy 1.
In 600 feet, turn left onto Bear Valley Rd. In approximately 0.5 mile, turn left at the entrance to Point Reyes National Seashore Headquarters at Bear Valley. We will meet at the picnic tables near the parking lot.
King Mountain Preserve – Larkspur
Friday, June 9, 2023
8:00 AM to 10:30 AM
Birding with Rich Cimino and Janet Bodle
All participants are welcome to join this trip. No registration required.
Join us on King Mountain for a bird walk that welcomes beginners as well as experienced birders. This accessible Preserve, rising above the main streets in Larkspur, is frequented by hikers, but not so much by birders. Janet and I survey King Mt. as part the Marin Audubon Breeding Bird Atlas project. We would like to introduce Marin Audubon birders to this location.
It's breeding season so any of the breeding migrants are probable, such as Lazuli Bunting, Black-throated Grey Warbler, and Yellow Warbler. Resident birds such as Wrentit and Pileated Woodpecker have been seen recently.
While the steep trail provides some excellent views, it can get quite warm. Bring liquid and wear a wide brimmed hat.
Directions from the corner of Magnolia Ave and Ward St in Larkspur: coming from north, turn right on Ward (left from the South), right on Hawthorne Ave, left on Willow Ave. Park and meet at trail head gate (Citron Fire Rd.) on Willow Ave.
Contact Cell - (925) 353-0266
Find out more »July 2023
Big Rock and Las Gallinas – Birding in Marin, Season 8, Trip 7
Saturday, July 1, 2023
8:30 AM to 3 PM
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this Field Trip
Registration required for this trip. Registration opens on June 21 at 8:00 AM
Trails at Big Rock, rather steep, allow us to view some of the expansive grasslands and forested ravines in Marin. Some of the grassland nesting birds we will be looking for include Lazuli Bunting, Grasshopper Sparrow, Horned Lark, and Ash-throated Flycatcher. We will also have a vast amount of sky visible so swallows, swifts, and raptors may appear with a chance for a Golden Eagle.
At midday we expect to drive Lucas Valley Road to Las Gallinas where we will be looking for American and Least Bitterns, Green Heron, Cinnamon Teal, Common Gallinule, and Great-tailed Grackle.
DIRECTIONS: From Highway 101 in San Rafael, exit on Lucas Valley Rd and go west approximately 5.5 miles (look for the big rock). We will be walking approximately 3 miles. Because this area can get quite hot this time of year, be sure to wear a hat, use sunscreen and carry plenty of water.
Find out more »
Field Trips Webinar Recordings Archive
2021
March
– Rare Birds of Marin 2020 – by Joseph Zeno, John King, Lucas Corneliuseen and Mark Schulist
February
– GIS Conservation – The Breeding Birds of Marin County – by William Wiskes – CLICK HERE
January
– Marin’s Breeding Birds (How We Know What We Know) by Dave DeSante – CLICK HERE
– New Breading Bird Atlas – by Juan Garcia – CLICK HERE
2020
September
– Snowy Plovers: A Natural History, Breeding Biology & Conservation – CLICK HERE
– Pacific Flyway Shorebird Surveys – CLICK HERE
October
– Diurnal Raptors of Marin – CLICK HERE
– The Natural History of Osprey in Marin County – CLICK HERE
– Red-Tales: Hawkish Behaviors and Migratory Stories – CLICK HERE
November
– Improving Habitat for Central Valley Waterbirds – CLICK HERE