Birding in Marin - Season 8, Trip 8
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
Saturday 8/5/22
8:30AM - 3PM
Register HERE for this Field Trip 

Registration required for this trip. Registration opens on July 27 at 8 AM on our TicketBud Site.

Meet at Sky Trailhead, near the crest of Limantour Rd. Directions below.

The Sky Trail, called “the misty spine of Bear Valley”, takes us through a maturing Douglas Fir/ Bishop Pine forest. Forest birds are more active early and moving birds often follow ridges so I would like to look and listen on our walk through this habitat. We may see or hear a Pileated Woodpecker, Band Tailed Pigeons, Steller’s Jays, Swainson’s Thrush, Osprey, nuthatches and surely Acorn Woodpeckers and Chestnut-backed Chickadees. Northern Spotted Owls, Western Screech and Saw-whet Owls live here but we would need to be here at dusk or dawn to hear them.

After we leave, we drive down to the great beach of Limantour with its miles of sand, its tidal estuary the open expanse of Drakes Bay and the Pacific Ocean beyond. We will gather at 9:30 in the ample parking lot with restrooms nearby.  We’ll pack our lunches, shoulder our scopes and head out and up the beach. We can hike far enough to find Snowy Plovers to get our exercise and to cross over to the estuary side for our walk back. Gulls, terns, cormorants, loons, grebes, pelicans, murres, and guillemots will garner our attention and I’m always interested what the Pacific will bring close to shore. Shorebirds too, some already back from their breeding excursion to the Arctic, may decorate the shore or be gathering along the estuary shores and shallows. Some ducks, hawks, and herons will show up too.

Directions to Sky Trail: From CA 1 South, right (left from CA 1 North) onto Sir Francis Drake Blvd for 0.7 miles, left onto Bear Valley Road for 0.5, then right onto Limantour Road for 3.4 miles to the Sky Trailhead. Roadside parking is available near the trailhead. From Sky Trailhead, the drive to the Limantour beach parking lot is 4.3 miles. 

Wednesday, August 23, 2023 7:30/8:30 AM to noon **See notes below about start times.
Birding with William Legge and David Wiechers
Register HERE for this Field Trip

Registration required for this trip. 15 Participants max. Registration opens on August 13 at 8 AM.

Join William and David for the first of four fall migration field trips at Rodeo Lagoon. This is their long-time “patch,” which never seems to disappoint birders with daily variations in species and the chance of an unusual sighting. On this trip, our group will be targeting Elegant Terns and Parasitic Jaegers, migrating shorebirds, and western passerine migrants including warblers. We will begin the morning with a Sea Watch at 7:30 AM from Rodeo Beach. Those arriving later may join us at 8:30 AM for a circuit of the lagoon.

DIRECTIONS: Head south on Hwy 101 and take the last Sausalito exit just before the Golden Gate Bridge. At the exit stop sign, turn right and go under the freeway, then follow the road down to the left. Within 300 feet turn left at the sign to the Marin Headlands (This is the only available left turn before you begin the descent into Sausalito). You should see the tunnel with the five-minute light. Proceed through the tunnel on Bunker Rd to the Rodeo Lagoon Parking Lot at the end. Meet by the bridge over the channel to the beach or join MAS birders with scopes along the nearby beach area. 

Saturday, August 26, 2023
9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Leader: Rusty Scalf

All participants are welcome to join this trip. No registration required.

We will bird the coastal scrub, lagoons, and ocean. We hope to find migrant shorebirds and resident Snowy Plovers. Abbott’s Lagoon has historically been good for Baird’s Sandpiper and we may get lucky. Meet at 9am at the Abbotts Lagoon parking lot (bathrooms but no water). Bring scope, liquids, lunch. Plan on walking 4 miles round-trip; relatively flat but trail consists partially of sand. Prepare for wind.

DIRECTIONS: From Point Reyes Station on Hwy 1 go just south of town, right turn onto Sir Francis Drake Blvd, follow that thru Inverness up over Inverness ridge into the Point Reyes National Seashore then go north on Pierce Point Road. The Abbott’s Lagoon parking lot is on the left in about 3 miles. Carpool if you can. 

Point Reyes Lighthouse to Drakes Beach - Birding In Marin - Series 8, Trip 9
Saturday 9/2/2023
8:30 AM to mid-afternoon
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this Field Trip

Registration is required for this trip. Registration opens August 23 at 8AM.

This is the place to be for fall birding. Many migrants like hawks, jaegers, shorebirds and loons follow the coast south. Many songbirds, migrate at night and seem to have a compass bearing in mind, momma said to fly “15 degrees east of due south for 4 days.” Millions of recently fledged birds undertake a journey of 2-4000 miles without a google assistant and many without further parental guidance. Some get lost.

Imagine that you are a dyslexic Connecticut Warbler hatched in early June in the boreal forest of north central Canada. It is your second night flight, you are flying west instead of east or south, you crossed some mountains so that you are flying sort of high, morning is approaching so you descend thru the clouds and there is nothing but water. A fog shrouded coast was not in your flight plan. You reverse directions, trying to avoid the gulls and jaegers pursuing you, when you see trees miles away on a point sticking above the fog. Relief, a place to land, to rest, and to find something to eat. These vagrant warblers and other eastern songbirds are the reasons that the tree islands of the Point Reyes peninsula are so popular with birders

We intend to visit the nearby Fish Docks after The Light house then work our way back to Drake’s Beach for lunch and much more birding.

Directions: Meet at 8:30 at the Lighthouse parking area. The Lighthouse parking area is at the west end of S F Drake. Going north thru Inverness follow Drake to the Lighthouse. Allow 30 min from Inverness or 1.5 hour from San Rafael.

Thursday, September 7, 2023
8:30 AM to noon
Birding with Sande and Bob Chilvers 

No registration required.  All participants are welcome to join this trip.

Join old friends and meet new ones as we resume our regularly scheduled walks on the first Thursday of the month at Las Gallinas. We especially welcome beginning birders on this leisurely walk around the ponds. Special thanks to Bob and Sande Chilvers for volunteering once again to lead our monthly walks in search of waterfowl, waders, songbirds, raptors, and shorebirds. Among other birds, we will see various species of rails, swallows and teals. With fall migration underway, we are likely to spot some interesting species, so come assist in our search. 

We welcome bird enthusiasts of all levels. We all 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 our group is easy to find. 

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 or you can use the bathrooms at nearby McInnis Park. 

Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Birding with William Legge and David Wiechers
7:30/8:30 AM to noon **See Notes Below
Register HERE for this field trip

Registration required for this trip. Registration opens on September 10 at 8 AM

Join William and David for this second fall migration field trip at Rodeo Lagoon. This is their long-time “patch,” which never seems to disappoint birders with daily variations in species and a good chance of an unusual sighting. On this trip, our group will be targeting Parasitic Jaeger, migrating shorebirds and migrant passerines. We will begin the morning with a Sea Watch from Rodeo Beach at 7:30 AM. Those arriving later may join us at 8:30 AM for a circuit of the lagoon.

DIRECTIONS: Head south on Hwy 101 and take the last Sausalito exit just before the Golden Gate Bridge. At the exit stop sign, turn right and go under the freeway, then follow the road down to the left. Within 300 feet turn left at the sign to the Marin Headlands (This is the only available left turn before you begin the descent into Sausalito). You should see the tunnel with the five-minute light. Proceed through the tunnel on Bunker Rd to the Rodeo Lagoon Parking Lot at the end. Meet by the bridge over the channel to the beach or join MAS birders with scopes along the nearby beach area. 

Wednesday, September 27, 2023
9:45 AM - 12:30 PM
Birding with Rich Cimino

Reservations are not required for this trip

The field trip, to the GGRO Hawk watch wing measurement platform, is timed as an optimal prime period for Broad-wing Hawk migration and Black Swift Migration.

Limited restroom facilities, a steep walk up to the ridge on loose gravel, layered clothing is best.

Directions: From 101 south to exit 442 toward Alexander Ave. Right on Alexander Ave, after 0.3 mi turn left on Bunker Rd. (continue through the tunnel) for approx. 1.2 miles, turn left on McCollough Road, in approx. 0.9 mi at the traffic circle, take the 2^nd exit onto Conzelman Rd. for approx. 0.6 miles to the destination, where there is a parking area and a few portable restrooms nearby. Meet Rich at the parking lot at 9:45. 

Thursday October 5th, 2023
8:30 AM to noon
Birding with Sande and Bob Chilvers 

No registration required.  All participants are welcome to join this trip.

Join old friends and meet new ones as we resume our regularly scheduled walks on the first Thursday of the month at Las Gallinas. We especially welcome beginning birders on this leisurely walk around the ponds. Special thanks to Bob and Sande Chilvers for volunteering once again to lead our monthly walks in search of waterfowl, waders, songbirds, raptors, and shorebirds. Among other birds, we will see various species of rails, swallows and teals. With fall migration underway, we are likely to spot some interesting species, so come assist in our search. 

We welcome bird enthusiasts of all levels. We all 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 our group is easy to find. 

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 or you can use the bathrooms at nearby McInnis Park. 

Birding in Marin - Series 8, Trip 10
Saturday, October 7, 2023
8:30 AM to mid afternoon
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this field trip

Registration required for this trip. Registration opens on September 27 at 8:00 AM

Abbott’s Lagoon on the Pacific Coast in the Point Reyes National Seashore is one of Marin’s premier birding locations sporting an eBird sum of 283 species. Fall migration south along the coast brings many birds to this area. Some that we hope to see include Ferruginous Hawk, Baird’s and Pectoral Sandpipers, Red-necked Phalaropes, Lapland Longspur, Horned Lark and Pipits. Hundreds of ducks of a dozen species, geese, herons, Peregrines and Ospreys are also likely visitors. Plus you get some exercise; out and back is about 3 miles (some in sand) and Jim likes to do a full 5-mile loop. So pack a lunch for a picnic on the beach and bring a couple of layers for the fresh ocean air and help us spot a rarity.

To help bolster our participant’s species lists to our yearly goal of 200, we plan to stop along Tomales Bay near the Inverness Tennis club to look for Pine and Alder woodland birds. A surprising number of species have been seen here and there is a nice little beach where we usually find several kinds of gulls.

DIRECTIONS: From Point Reyes Station on Highway 1 go just south of town, right turn onto Sir Francis Drake Blvd, follow that thru Inverness up over Inverness ridge into the Point Reyes National Seashore then go north on Pierce Point Road. The ABBOTT’s Lagoon parking lot is on the left in about 3 miles. Carpool if you can, allow 1.5 hours from San Rafael.