Thursday, February 2, 2023
8:30 to 11:30 AM
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 to 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. 

Season 8, Trip 2
Saturday, February 4, 2023
8:30 AM to mid afternoon
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin 

Register HERE for this field trip

Registration opens Wednesday, January 25 at 8 AM. Trip limit is 15 fully vaccinated participants. No drop-ins, please. 

We are going to explore the bay from the Sausalito waterfront to the Golden Gate and Richardson’s Bay around to Strawberry Point and on to Blacky’s pasture in Tiburon. Many ducks, loons and grebes winter on the bay waters and we may compare looks at similar species like Eared and Horned or Clark’s and Western Grebes, of Red-throated, Pacific and Common Loons or Greater and Lesser Scaup. We are likely to find some shorebirds too, perhaps a Spotted Sandpiper or a rather rare Wandering Tattler.

Herring runs happen around this time of year and if we are lucky they will still be numerous. Herring deposit large numbers of eggs on eelgrass, which water birds, especially gulls, love to feast on. Although the roe, are fancied by some diners and there is a purse seining fleet hungry for profit, the Department of Fish and Wildlife is trying to maintain a sustainable catch. Last year near this time I think that 10 species of gulls were located. So brush up on your gull IDs and join Bob and I along the shore.

DIRECTIONS: Meet at the east end of Harbor Drive. Handicap Accessible. We will park where the birding is close, near level and smooth. Thanks to enlightened development planning, Harbor Drive and the rather posh Strawberry spit have fine public shoreline paths.

Birding with David Wimpfheimer
Sunday, February 5th, 2023
Boat departs at 9 AM. Plan to arrive early!
Register HERE for this field trip. Please see below for important registration information.

The trip costs $135. Limited to 25 people. Registration for this trip opens January 8th at 8AM. Tickets may be cancelled until February 2 at 12 noon. Cancellations will be refunded MINUS the TicketBud service charges.

If tickets aren’t available, you may sign up for the waitlist by clicking the "Contact Organizer" prompt on Ticketbud and leaving your name and phone number. 

This very popular trip is being held the first weekend in Feb on Sunday Feb 5. We’ll depart from the Antioch Marina at 9AM and enter the San Joaquin River, keeping an eye out for overwintering birds and any marine (or other) animals that happen to show up. As we head east, we enter a number of the smaller sloughs and waterways with views out over the flooded agricultural fields that provide a refuge for flocks that nest in the north but winter here.

Along with the flocks of snow geese, white fronted geese and Tundra swans, numerous ducks, shorebirds, and raptors are usually spotted. Well known birder and naturalist David Wimpfheimer will provide commentary and Ronn Patterson (captain and naturalist) will fill in bits about the history of the delta as we transit this altered but still viable ecosystem.

Coffee, tea, hot chocolate is provided, bring lunch and snacks. Bad weather can cancel as with any winter trip. Light rain will not cancel.

Ticket holders will receive directions to the Antioch Marina, where the trip begins and ends, and other instructions, approximately one week prior to the trip. 

Inclement weather will reschedule the trip to Sunday, February 19.

Thursday, March 2, 2023
8:30 to 11:30 AM
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 to 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 8 - Trip 3
Saturday, March 4, 2023
8:30 AM to mid-afternoon
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin 

CLICK HERE to sign up for this field trip

Registration opens Wednesday, February 22 at 8 AM. Trip limit is 15 fully vaccinated participants. No drop-ins, please. 

Mount Tamalpais, rising like an icon above Marin, hosts some birds uncommonly seen in the rest of the county such as Pileated Woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Purple Finch, Red Crossbill, and in the winter, 1 or 2 Townsend’s Solitaire.

About twenty years ago our friend Dave MacKenzie discovered a TOSO feeding on mistletoe berries in some Sargent Cypress trees along the trail to Barth’s retreat and the bird or its children have returned every year since! But the trail, built by the CCC, (California Conservation Corp), back in the 1930s has not withstood the test of time quite as well. So, if you are up for a vigorous though short (3.5 miles) hike, join us to see what we can find.

After our lunch break back at Rock Springs with fine picnic tables and a restroom, we intend to drive down to sea level to look at the Corte Madera marshes. This area is very birdy, so depending on the tidal height, we expect to see a lot of birds there. Wintering shorebirds are gearing up for the return to their arctic nesting grounds, so we may be able to see how Black-bellied Plovers got their name. As the shorebirds molt into their breeding plumage, if we are diligent, we might even be able to tell the two Dowitcher species apart.

DIRECTIONS: Meet at Rock Springs at 8:30 a.m. From Hwy 1 in Stinson Beach or up 3.3 miles from Tam Junction, take Panoramic Dr to its crest then go uphill 1 mile on Pantoll Rd to the Rock Springs parking lot. 

Wednesday, March 8, 2023
7:30 AM to noon ** Please note this field trip starts at 7:30 AM not 8:00 AM
Birding with William Legge & David Wiechers 

CLICK HERE to sign up for this field trip

Registration opens February 26 at 8:00 AM. Trip limit is 15. No drop-ins. please.

With early spring migration underway will be looking out for migrant wildfowl, grebes, loons, gulls, 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 8:30 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 signal 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. 

Wednesday, March 22, 2023
9 AM to 12 PM
Birding with Rich Cimino
Register HERE for this Field Trip

Registration for this trip is required. Registration opens March 12 at 8:00 AM.

Beginning and experienced birders are invited to join Rich Cimino and others to bird the park. This year we will be birding the Olompali Park two days after the Spring Equinox. It’s always an exciting time to birdwatch at Olompali State Historic Park which occupies parts of two blocks in the Marin County Breeding Bird Atlas II survey. Four MAS members who are surveying the park will be with us on the outing.

Early spring arrivals should be on hand as we walk the old ranch road to the park’s reservoir. Olompali State Park features oak savanna, open grasslands and riparian habitat: There is a good assortment of species, raptors, flycatchers, swallows, vireos, warblers, woodpeckers, nuthatches, thrushes, and orioles. Be early, the field trip will start at 9 AM in the parking lot. Rain cancels.

DIRECTIONS: Exit Hwy 101 at Atherton Ave/San Marin Dr in Novato. Follow the signs to Olompali State Historic Park. A right turn onto the Old Redwood Hwy frontage road will take you to the park. There is an $8 parking fee. 

Saturday, April 1st - 8:30 AM to mid-afternoon
With Jim White and Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this field trip 
Registration for this trip is required. Registration opens Wednesday, March 22 at 8 AM. 

The rolling hills of central Marin are covered with pastures, horse ranches, forested ridges, homes, reservoirs and occupied by many interesting birds. We will look for them in and around Nicasio and along the nearby stream before heading three miles north to see what is on and around Nicasio Reservoir. This is Bob’s birding “patch” and he has found both Bald and Golden Eagles recently with a nice array of other birds in this vicinity.

We expect to travel the few miles to Point Reyes Station for a lunch break or picnic. In the after- noon we will explore the south end Tomales Bay. Then, as time allows, we can explore the eastern edge of Tomales Bay along Highway 1, which supports a winter population of thousands of ducks, geese and shorebirds. We might travel 10 miles north to see if an Eagle’s nest is having success. Heavy Rain cancels.

DIRECTIONS: From Hwy 101 in north San Rafael take Lucas Valley Rd west 10.3 miles then right turn onto Nicasio Valley Rd for 0.5 miles and park near the baseball field, the center of town. For GPS use 1 Old Rancheria Rd Nicasio, the address for the Rancho Nicasio Restaurant. Meet at ball field in Nicasio.

Thursday, April 6, 2023
8:30 to 11:30 AM
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. 

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 - 7:30 AM to noon
Birding with William Legge & David Wiechers
Register HERE for this field trip

Registration is required for this trip. Registration opens April 2 at 8:00 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 8:30 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 signal 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. 

Thursday, May 4, 2023
8:30 to 11:30 AM
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. 

Saturday, May 6, 2023
8:30 AM to mid afternoon
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this field trip

Registration 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.

Saturday, May 13th
8 AM to 12 PM
Birding With Josiah Clark
Register HERE for this Field Trip 

Registration is required for this trip. Registration opens May 3^rd 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.

June 3rd - 8:30 AM - 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 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. 

Friday, June 9, 2023
8:00 AM to 10:30 AM
Birding with Rich Cimino and Janet Bodle

All 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