Thursday, January 5, 2022
8:30 to 11:30 AM
Birding with Sande and Bob Chilvers 

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

Join old friends and meet new ones on our regularly scheduled walks on the first Thursday of the month at Las Gallinas. With fall migration just about over, we might see more waterfowl and spot 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. 

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 1
Saturday, January 7, 2023
8:30 AM to mid afternoon
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this field trip

Registration opens on December 28, 2022 at 8 AM. Trip limit is 15 participants. No drop-ins, please.

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?

Thanks can be given today to the founders of Marin Audubon and some conservation minded elders for the parks, open space, public access, and wildlife habitats in much of the country and around Bolinas Lagoon. Dr Martin Griffith was instrumental in saving Bolinas harbor from a hotel and yacht club destination and he is commemorated at the heron and egret rookery that we will pass along the east side of the lagoon.

So start your year list if you haven’t already. Bob is adept with ebird but he is recovering from hip replacement surgery. We strive to help all of our participants to see or hear all of the birds that we encounter but that is a goal not quite a reality. Let’s go birding!

Meet at 8:30 at the Stinson/Bolinas School on Highway 1

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!

Tuesday, January 24, 2023
10 AM to 2 PM
Birding with Daniel Edelstein
Register HERE for this field trip

Registration opens January 14 at 8 AM.. Trip limit is 15 participants. No drop-ins, please.

We’ll pursue sightings of visiting shorebird, duck, gull, and songbird species for this area, including uncommon to rare species such as Lesser Yellowlegs, Western Snowy Plover, Glaucous Gull, Lesser Scaup, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Eurasian/Common Green-winged Teal, and Redhead.

Feel free to pack a lunch and beverage. Spotting scope recommended, but not essential.

Daniel is a long-time Avian Biologist, Birding Guide, and college birding instructor (WarblerWatch.com).

Directions: From US-101N, take exit 458, take right fork to continue on Nave Dr. Make a right on Main Gate Road, continue onto Palm Drive, right onto Hangar Ave, continue to South Hamilton Park, near the end of the road. Parking is available in the Park’s parking lot. Meet at the Hamilton Wetlands trailhead, near the South Hamilton Park playground.

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.