Thursday, November 3, 2022
8:30 AM to noon
Birding with Sande and Bob Chilvers 

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

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. 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. 

Saturday, November 5, 2022
8:30 AM to mid afternoon (3PM)
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this Field Trip

Registration will be open starting on October 27 at 8 AM. There is a limit of 15 participants for this trip. There will not be a waiting list. No drop-ins, please. 

Join Jim and Bob on an easy, birdy walk of 1.5 miles around the Las Gallinas ponds where we are likely to see 10 species of ducks, five of herons, five of raptors, five of sparrows and some rails like Ridgway’s, Sora, and Virginia with Gallinules, coots, swans and geese! Shall we try to identify the duck species by females? I wonder if the Merlin will be back. These oxidation ponds, where a large portion of Marin’s waste water is converted to useful nutrients and clean enough to return safely to the San Francisco Bay ecosystem, demonstrate how we can provide for wildlife and live in harmony with nature.

After lunch we are going to visit the Hamilton Wetlands, restored by the Army Corp. of Engineers in the recent 5–10 years to the SF Bay ecosystem, which have become the winter home of some ten thousand birds. It is remarkable that thru the 2nd World War and the Cold War years the US

Air Force stayed on alert and could launch jet fighter planes in minutes from an airport here to defend the Bay Area. We will try to find 10 species of shorebirds here while staying alert to many other possibilities.

DIRECTIONS: From 101 north San Rafael take the Lucas Valley/Smith Ranch Road exit east. In about 0.5 miles, immediately after crossing the RR tracks, left turn and follow the road another 0.5 mile to the Las Gallinas parking at the end. 

To the Hamilton Wetlands return to 101 North, take the second exit, Nave Drive toward Hamilton. Stay on Nave Dr, heading north, to Main Gate Dr and turn right. Go east to Hanger Ave and park along the levee behind Hangar 7.

Become a chapter supporting member of the Marin Audubon Society starting at $35 a year, or RENEW your membership today! Your membership helps to fund important efforts such as our ongoing habitat restoration projects, the Monarch Rescue Project, and our Northern Spotted Owl Outreach program. We cannot do these important projects, along with our many other efforts, without the support of our dedicated members!

Wednesday, November 9, 2022
7:30 AM to noon **Please note this is the correct time. TicketBud only allows an 8AM start time, but please meet at 7:30 AM
Birding with William Legge and David Wiechers
Register HERE for this Field Trip

Registration opens October 31 at 8AM. Limit of 15 fully vaccinated participants for this trip. There will not be a waiting list. No drop-ins, please. 

Early-November is a surprisingly active time for migrants at this Marin Headlands location, as we search for scarcer late fall migrants including winter wildfowl, loons, grebes and passerine migrants. As always, the weather will determine the focus of our search on the day. This “hotspot” has produced some memorable Marin rarities in recent Novembers, including Tricolored Heron, Scaly-breasted Munia and Rusty Blackbird. We will begin the morning with a sea watch and/or visible migration watch at 7:30 AM. Those arriving later may join us at 8:15 AM for a circuit of the lagoon.

DIRECTIONS: Head south on Hwy 101, taking the last Sausalito exit just before the Golden Gate Bridge. At the exit stop sign, turn right. Go under the freeway, following the road 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. Meet by the bridge over the channel to the beach. 

Become a chapter supporting member of the Marin Audubon Society starting at $35 a year, or RENEW your membership today! Your membership helps to fund important efforts such as our ongoing habitat restoration projects, the Monarch Rescue Project, and our Northern Spotted Owl Outreach program. We cannot do these important projects, along with our many other efforts, without the support of our dedicated members!

Saturday, November 12, 2022
9 AM to 4 PM
Trip Leader: Roger Harris
Tickets go on sale October 15th at 8AM
CLICK HERE to sign up for the boat trip

San Francisco Bay, the largest and one of the most important estuaries along the Pacific Flyway, is right in our own backyard. Join us as we cruise from Berkeley toward the Golden Gate Bridge and north into San Pablo Bay, hugging the shorelines and waters that are home to thousands of wintering birds. We will pass by 10 islands, under two bridges, and up two creeks in four counties in search of migrating and resident waterfowl, shorebirds and marine mammals. This trip offers water bird and marine mammal viewing in stunning locations, many of which can only be seen by boat.

Dress in layers. Bring liquids and lunch. Please bring a mask for any time spent inside the cabin.

The trip costs $125 and is limited to 25 people. A waitlist will open if the trip sells out. Waitlist names will be contacted according to the order they were received. You may request to cancel your ticket for a full refund, up to 48 hours before the date and time of the event. 

All participants must be fully vaccinated.
Registered participants will receive directions to the Berkeley Marina and other instructions prior to the trip.
Inclement weather will reschedule the trip to the next Saturday, November 19.

Birding in Marin, Season 7-Trip 12
Saturday, December 3, 2022
8:30 AM to 3:00 PM
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this field trip

Registration opens on November 24 at 8 AM. Trip limit is 15 participants. No drop-ins, please. 

MAS acquired and restored to tidal action the diked bay lands around the residential Bahia neighborhood. As the ebbing tide exposes the mudflats to thousands of shorebirds, 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.

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. 

Become a chapter supporting member of the Marin Audubon Society starting at $35 a year, or RENEW your membership today! Your membership helps to fund important efforts such as our ongoing habitat restoration projects, the Monarch Rescue Project, and our Northern Spotted Owl Outreach program. We cannot do these important projects, along with our many other efforts, without the support of our dedicated members!