Thursday, May 2, 2023 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM Birding with Sande and Bob Chilvers All 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.

Birding in Marin, Season 9, trip 5
Saturday, May 4, 2024
8:30 AM to mid afternoon
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this Field Trip

Registration is required. Registration opens April 24 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.

Wednesday, May 15, 2024
7:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Birding with William Legge & David Wiechers
Register HERE for this Field Trip

Registration is required for this trip. Registration opens May 5 at 8 AM.

With spring migration underway will be looking out for migrant wildfowl, shorebirds, grebes, loons and passerines. As usual, the weather will dictate our focus with onshore northwest winds ideal for spring sea watches, while offshore easterly winds promise a good selection of passerine migrants. Join us for a Sea Watch at 7:30 AM or arrive later at 8:15 AM for a circuit of the lagoon.

Saturday, June 1, 2024
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 May 22 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.

Wednesday, June 12, 2024
8:30 am – 2:00 pm
Birding with Liz Lewis and Susan Kelly
Register HERE for this Field Trip

Registration required. Registration opens June 2 at 8 AM

Would you like to contribute to the second Marin County Breeding Bird Atlas? Join MCBBA2’s Liz Lewis and Susan Kelly for a morning of blockbusting birding in Outer Point Reyes including the cypress tree tunnel to the historic RCA radio station. Time permitting, we will explore the abandoned ranch as well. Block 3-4 is a high priority block with minimal data collected to date. Species we might see or hear include: Allen’s Hummingbird, Swainson’s Thrush, Northern Harrier, and Western Meadowlark. 

Saturday, July 6, 2024
8:30 AM to 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 June 26 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.

Wednesday, July 31, 2024 7:30/8:15 AM – 12:00 PM Birding with William Legge and David Wiechers Register HERE for this field trip Registration required for this trip. Registration opens on July 21 at 8 AM. Join William and David for the first of five 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 July trip, we will be targeting northward bound Heermann’s Gulls and Elegant Terns, and hopefully the first southbound migrating shorebirds, and western passerine migrants. We will begin with a Sea Watch at 7:30 AM from Rodeo Beach. Those arriving later may join us at 8:15 AM for a circuit of the lagoon. A brief mid-morning ‘coffee-stop’ is planned at Headlands Center for the Arts and it would be appreciated if participants come willing to contribute via the onsite ‘tip-jar’ as a thank you to the Headlands Center for the Arts for accommodating our group.      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.