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  • Rodeo Lagoon – Marin Headlands

    Wednesday, November 15 2023
    7:30 AM to noon
    Birding with William Legge and David Wiechers
    Register HERE for this Field Trip 

    Registration required for this trip.  Registration opens November 5 at 8AM. 

    With large numbers of birds moving through the area this time of year, it’s sure to be an interesting outing with unusual sightings a definite possibility. We’ll start with a 30-40 minute visible migration and sea watch from Rodeo Beach hoping for grebes, loons, passing wildfowl and gulls before undertaking an extended circuit of Rodeo Lagoon in the search for scarce migrants including early winter wildfowl, shorebirds and fall passerines.  More than 60 species should be possible at this time of year.  The morning will begin with a sea watch at 7:30 AM. This trip is less suitable for beginners.

    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 tun- nel with the five-minute light. Proceed through the tunnel on Bunker Road to the Rodeo Lagoon Parking Lot at the end and meet by the bridge over the channel to the beach. 

  • Bahia and Rush Creek

    Birding in Marin, Season 8 – Trip 12
    Saturday, December 2, 2023
    8:30 AM to 3:30 PM
    Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
    Register HERE for this Field Trip

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

    MAS acquired and restored to tidal action the diked bay lands around the residential Bahia neighborhood. As the ebbing tide exposes the mudflats thousands of shore- birds now descend to feed while on the flood tide hundreds of ducks and some gulls float, forage and loaf about. The oak-wooded ridge stretching from Hwy 101 to Bahia, also saved from development by MAS, holds Oak Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatch, Hutton’s Vireo, at least four woodpecker species and many sparrows in the winter.

    Horseshoe Pond (Homeowners Lagoon) at the southeast end of Topaz is a great place to look for wintering ducks. Goldeneyes, Scaup, Canvasbacks, Buffleheads, and Mergansers seem to like it and it has been Marin’s best place for Barrow’s Goldeneyes the last few years.

    After lunch we plan to look at the nearby Rush Creek area from the Airport Rd which parallels Hwy 101 north of Atherton.

    DIRECTIONS: From 101 in north Novato take Atherton Avenue east, take the Y left onto Bugeia which becomes Bahia Drive, near the end at the bottom of the hill take a right onto Topaz, follow Topaz to its end and park. 

  • The Ponds at Las Gallinas Sanitary District – San Rafael

    Thursday December 7th, 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. 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, especially beginning birders on this leisurely walk around the ponds 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.

  • Loch Lomond Marina – San Rafael

    Saturday, December 9, 2023
    8:30 AM to 11:00 AM
    Birding with Rich Cimino

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

    Join Rich for an easy stroll around the Loch Lomond Marina breakwater, wheelchair accessible with a paved path out to the end. The path provides panoramic views of the surrounding bay and gives you the feeling of actually being out on the bay in close proximity to the Marin Islands. 

    Winter birds here include Black-bellied Plover, Black Turnstone, Least and Western Sandpipers, Black Oystercatcher, and a variety of ducks on the bay. If you have a scope, bring it for a better look at the ducks. 

    DIRECTIONS: Head east on Second Street in San Rafael, which turns into Point San Pedro Road. Continue approximately 2 miles past the Montecito Shopping Center to a red light at the intersection of Point San Pedro Road and Loch Lomond Drive. Turn right here, then turn left in front of Andy’s Market where the road comes to a “T” at the water- front. Continue all the way to the end of the road where you will find ample parking and a public restroom. Meet in the parking lot next to Andy’s Market, 75 Loch Lomond Dr. Come early for coffee and chat.

    Dress warmly as some winter days here are cold and windy. Heavy rain cancels. 

  • Protecting Biodiversity and Facilitating Landscape-scale Tidal Marsh Restoration: Management of Invasive Spartina in the San Francisco Estuary

    Thursday, December 14, 2023, 7:00 pm - 9 pm
    Speaker: Jen McBroom, California Invasive Plant Council
    Register HERE for this Speaker Series Program

    Topic:
    San Francisco Bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of North America and a critical stopover along the Pacific Flyway migration route for millions of shorebirds and waterfowl.  Rimming the Bay between freeways, airports, and landfills remain precious tidal wetlands and opportunities to return salt evaporator ponds to functioning ecosystems.  Since 2005, the Coastal Conservancy’s Invasive Spartina Project has used airboats, genetic testing, sophisticated GIS, and a lot of hard, muddy work to push back the invasive plants that threaten habitat for shorebirds, waterfowl, and the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse. Learn about how hometown heroes are doing their part to address the global biodiversity crisis.

    Speaker Bio:
    Jen McBroom is a biologist at Olofson Environmental Inc. and has been counting Ridgway’s rails for the Invasive Spartina Project since 2005. She got her start in the tidal wetlands of the San Francisco Bay studying song sparrows and marsh wrens after finishing her degree at UC Davis. Since then, she has logged many hours in muddy boots mapping invasive plants and observing the wildlife at the edge of the Bay.

    Photo: Marsh along San Leandro Bay
    Photo by: Simon Gunner

    Next Speaker - Thursday, January 11, 2024
    Northern Spotted Owls, by Taylor Ellis, National Park Service

  • Point Reyes Christmas Bird Count

    Point Reyes CBC covering West Marin including Tomales Bay and the Point Reyes National Seashore. Register HERE and to get more information on the count and dinner.

  • The Ponds at Las Gallinas Sanitary District – San Rafael

    Thursday, January 4, 2023
    8:30 AM to 12:00 PM
    Birding with Sande and Bob Chilvers 

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

    Join old friends and meet new ones on our regularly scheduled walks on the first Thursday of the month at Las Gallinas. We welcome bird enthusiasts of all levels, especially 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. 

  • Stinson – Bolinas Birding Area

    Birding in Marin Season 9-Trip 1
    Saturday, January 6, 2024
    8:30 AM to 3:30 PM
    Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
    Register HERE for this Field Trip

    Registration opens on December 27, 2023 at 8 AM  

    A healthy happy New Year to you all. Bob and I are pleased to share the bird rich Stinson Beach/ Bolinas birding area with you. Coupled with non freezing winter weather and many diverse habitats the CBC, Southern Marin Christmas Bird Counts, show this to be most specie rich, birdiest, area in Southern Marin county. These habitats include the ocean, beaches, rocky shores, a large lagoon with acres of mudflats, Douglas Fir and Redwood forests, Alder riparian, parking lots, residential and more. The CBC data show an average of over 125 specie winter in this area. Plus, many of these birds, like ducks, gulls and shorebirds, are rather easy to see as they float about on the water or walk along the open shores. Can we find 100 species today?