Birding in Marin, Season 10 – Trip 8 Saturday, August 2, 2025 8:30 AM to mid-afternoon Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin REGISTER HERE Registration required for this trip. Registration opens on July 23 at 8 AM.  We will visit 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 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. Shorebirds too, some already back from their breeding excursion to the Arctic, may gather along the estuary shores and shallows. Some ducks, hawks, and herons will show up too. DIRECTIONS: 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 7. 5 miles to Limantour beach parking lot.

Wednesday, August 20, 2025 7:30/8:15 AM to noon **Please note below start times for this field trip Birding with William Legge and David Wiechers Register HERE Registration is required for this trip. Registration opens on Sunday, August 10 at 8 AM. Join William and David for the second 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 late-August trip, targets will include offshore Parasitic Jaegers, migrant shorebirds (including Red-necked Phalarope), and hopefully a good selection of 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 ($3) via the onsite ‘tip-jar’ as a thank you for accommodating our group. This field trip is less suitable for beginners and involves 2-3 miles of light to moderate hiking. 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 footbridge over the channel to the beach or join MAS birders with scopes along the nearby beach area.

Saturday, August 23, 2025 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM Birding with Rusty Scalf All participants are welcome to join this trip. We will bird the coastal scrub, lagoons, and ocean. We hope to find migrant shorebirds and resident Snowy Plovers. Abbotts Lagoon has historically been good for Baird’s Sandpiper and we may get lucky. Meet at 9 am 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 Abbotts Lagoon parking lot is on the left in about 3 miles. Carpool if you can.

Thursday, September 4, 2025 8:30 AM to noon Birding with Mark Clark Registration is not required. All participants are welcome to join this trip. We welcome bird enthusiasts of all levels, especially beginning birders, to join leader Mark Clark on our monthly first-Thursday-of-the-month walk around the ponds at Las Gallinas. On our search we’ll be looking for waterfowl, waders, songbirds, raptors, rails and swallows. We are likely to spot some interesting species, so come assist in our search. The packed dirt paths around the ponds are wide, flat and easy to navigate. Heavy rain cancels. There is a portable restroom in the parking area for public use. 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.

Birding In Marin, Series 10 – Trip 9  Saturday, September 6, 2025 8:30 AM to mid-afternoon Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin REGISTER HERE Registration required for this trip. Registration opens on July 23 at 8 AM.  This is the place to be for fall birding. Migrants like hawks, jaegers, shorebirds and loons follow the coast south. While a great many songbirds also leave their nesting grounds to head south, some get lost. 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. Bring lunch and drinks. Restrooms available at Drakes’s Beach. Directions: Meet at 8:30 at the Lighthouse parking area. The Lighthouse parking area is at the west end of Sir Francis Drake. Going north through Inverness follow S F Drake to the Lighthouse. Allow 30 min from Inverness or 1.5 hours from San Rafael.