Events
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California Condor – Forever Free
CA, United StatesThursday April 13, 2023 - 7:00 pm
California Condor – Forever Free
Speaker: Kurt Leuschner
Register HERE for this Speaker Series ProgramIn this presentation you will learn about the California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) – one of the largest and rarest birds in the world. Topics covered include: their conservation and natural history, recovery, reintroduction, and on-going preservation efforts (past and present), fun facts, and locations to see condors in the wild.
Kurt Leuschner is a Professor of Natural Resources at College of the Desert where he teaches courses on Conservation, Entomology, Field Ornithology, Native Plants and GPS Navigation. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology from U.C. Santa Barbara and a Master’s in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Florida. He is the founder of the Desert Cities Bird Club and is the past president of Western Field Ornithologists and the Natural Science Collaborative of the Desert. His most recent publications are the Palms to Pines Birding and Nature Trail map and brochure and a Field Guide to Desert Golf Course Wildlife. Kurt also teaches weekend courses and workshops on birdwatching, insect, PGS and backyard habitats. His most recent research project involved the sound recording of the various subspecies of North American Scrub-Jays.
Photo: California Condor
Photo by: US Fish & Wildlife Service -
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The Ponds at Las Gallinas Sanitary District (LGVSD) – San Rafael
CA, United StatesThursday, May 4, 2023
8:30 to 11:30 AM
Birding with Sande and Bob ChilversAll participants are welcome to join this trip. No registration required.
Beginning birders are especially welcome on the first Thursday of each month for a leisurely walk around the Las Gallinas ponds. Join our friendly leaders as we search for waterfowl, waders, songbirds, raptors, and shorebirds. Bird enthusiasts of all levels help each other to find and identify the birds, and there are usually several experienced birders to assist. You don’t even have to arrive on time because we spend the first 30 – 60 minutes studying the birds around the first pond and the group is easy to find. Heavy rain cancels.
DIRECTIONS: From Hwy 101, exit at Smith Ranch Rd. Drive east on Smith Ranch Rd toward McInnis Park. Turn left immediately after crossing the railroad tracks and drive about 0.5 mile through the LGVSD gates and into the parking lot at the end of the road. Meet the group by the bridge just past the parking lot. There is an outhouse in the parking area for public use.
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Mount Burdell / Stafford Lake or Rush Creek – Birding in Marin, Season 8, trip 5
CA, United StatesSaturday, May 6, 2023
8:30 AM to mid afternoon
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this field tripRegistration for this trip is required. Registration opens April 26 at 8:00 AM.
Join Jim and Bob for a field trip to the gentle slopes of Mount Burdell where we’ll listen to and observe the impressive variety of songbirds that make this area their springtime home. Species we might see include Lark Sparrow, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Bullock’s Oriole, Lazuli Bunting and Grasshopper Sparrow, among may other possibilities. In the afternoon, we plan to continue birding at Stafford Lake or Rush Creek.
This will be a moderate hike with many opportunities to look at birds and spring wildflowers. Wear comfortable walking shoes and layered clothing. Bring water and snacks. We will meet at the end of San Andreas Drive in Novato.
DIRECTIONS: Take Hwy 101 to Novato, exit at the San Marin Dr/Atherton Ave exit. At the end of the exit ramp, turn left (west) on San Marin Dr. Go approximately two miles and turn right on San Andreas Dr. Drive nearly to the end of the road and park on the street. No restrooms available.
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The Presidio – San Francisco
CA, United StatesSaturday, May 13th
8 AM to 12 PM
Birding with Josiah ClarkRegister HERE for this Field Trip. Registration is required for this trip. Registration opens May 3rd at 8:00 AM.
The Presidio, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area since 1972, provides an excellent case study for the human and wildlife interface in San Francisco. Consulting Ecologist and San Francisco native, Josiah Clark, will share with us both the challenges and opportunities for wildlife and habitat preservation he has observed here. While the area has benefitted from the protection of the National Park Service and increased funding for special restoration projects, there have also been accompanying challenges brought about visitors, dogs, pathogens, and invasive plants that have all become more numerous as visitation to the area has dramatically increased.
We’ll meet Josiah at the Baker Beach Parking Lot, then travel on foot to Logos Valley, Mountain Lake Park, and the Presidio Hills before returning to Baker Beach. We’ll watch for signs of seasonal transitions in the area as wintering birds depart and the breeding season begins. A secondary focus for the trip will be habitat plants, some unique to the Franciscan scrub habitat, that Marin birders may not have seen. Heavy rain cancels.
DIRECTIONS: From Marin take Hwy 101 south to Merchant Rd. (Exit 439, first exit after the bridge) toward 25th Ave. in San Francisco. From Merchant Rd. turn right onto Lincoln Blvd. Next, turn right onto Bowley St. and right again onto Gibson Rd. Park in the Gibson Rd. parking lot. Parking is limited here, so ride with a friend if possible.
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The Presidio – San Francisco
CA, United StatesSaturday, May 13th
8 AM to 12 PM
Birding With Josiah Clark
Register HERE for this Field TripRegistration is required for this trip. Registration opens May 3rd at 8:00 AM.
The Presidio, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area since 1972, provides an excellent case study for the human and wildlife interface in San Francisco. Consulting Ecologist and San Francisco native, Josiah Clark, will share with us both the challenges and opportunities for wildlife and habitat preservation he has observed here. While the area has benefitted from the protection of the National Park Service and increased funding for special restoration projects, there have also been accompanying challenges brought about visitors, dogs, pathogens, and invasive plants that have all become more numerous as visitation to the area has dramatically increased.
We’ll meet Josiah at the Baker Beach Parking Lot, then travel on foot to Logos Valley, Mountain Lake Park, and the Presidio Hills before returning to Baker Beach. We’ll watch for signs of seasonal transitions in the area as wintering birds depart and the breeding season begins. A secondary focus for the trip will be habitat plants, some unique to the Franciscan scrub habitat, that Marin birders may not have seen. Heavy rain cancels.
DIRECTIONS: From Marin take Hwy 101 south to Merchant Rd. (Exit 439, first exit after the bridge) toward 25th Ave. in San Francisco. From Merchant Rd. turn right onto Lincoln Blvd. Next, turn right onto Bowley St. and right again onto Gibson Rd. Park in the Gibson Rd. parking lot. Parking is limited here, so ride with a friend if possible.
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Islands and Avian Evolution
CA, United StatesThursday May 18, 2023
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Speaker: Bob Lewis
Please register HERE for this Speaker SeriesIslands have played a key role in both the development of new avian species and the extinction of others. Because they are isolated land masses, species which arrive on islands evolve separately from their parent group and through genetic drift eventually become unique. But because island species are restricted to small areas and have small populations, they are also susceptible to chance events, human-caused pressures, and predation by introduced species and introduced diseases.
In this presentation, we will focus on the wonders of these unique island species, as well as discuss some of the issues and threats to island avians.
Bob Lewis trained as a chemist and worked in the energy field for 33 years. He’s taught birding classes in the Bay Area for over 25 years and served as the chair of Golden Gate Audubon’s Adult Education Committee. Recently he’s been giving classes and talks via Zoom. Bob was honored with American Birding Association's "Chandler Robbins Award" for Education and Conservation in 2016, and Golden Gate Audubon’s "Paul Covel Education Award" in 2010 and 2017. He loves to travel and photograph birds and has chased birds in over 40 countries. His life list is over 5000 species.
Photo Credit: Bob Lewis
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Bear Valley & Five Brooks – Birding in Marin – Season 8, Trip 6
CA, United StatesJune 3rd - 8:30 AM - Mid Afternoon
Birding with Jim White & Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this Field TripRegistration 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
CA, United StatesFriday, June 9, 2023
8:00 AM to 10:30 AM
Birding with Rich Cimino and Janet BodleAll 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
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Marin Audubon Society Properties
CA, United StatesThursday June 15, 2023, 7:00 PM
Speaker: Jude Stalker
Register for this Speaker Series HEREFor almost twenty-five years Marin Audubon Society (MAS) has been acquiring wetlands (or historical wetlands) and adjacent upland properties in Marin County; restoring, stewarding, and preserving the land as valuable wildlife habitat. Some of these properties came very close to being developed but ended up with MAS due to the perseverance of those individuals who early on understood the value and importance of wetland habitat. Some have been stewarded by an impressive group of dedicated volunteers and enjoyed for their beauty and bountiful birdlife by many people throughout the years.
Jude Stalker will take you on a virtual tour of several of these properties and fill you in on the interesting ways that they were acquired and of how they have been restored, enhanced, and stewarded to support the many native plants and animals that are populating them now.
Jude is a wetland biologist who has worked in and around the SF bay wetlands for over twenty years. She is a long-time member of the board of MAS and spends much of her free time volunteering to help steward the MAS (and other) properties.
Photos: Bahia Property
Photo by: Jude Stalker -
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Big Rock and Las Gallinas – Birding in Marin, Season 8, Trip 7
CA, United StatesSaturday, July 1, 2023
8:30 AM to 3 PM
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this Field TripRegistration 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.