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. 

The Atlas II is a four-year project that builds on the first Atlas begun in the 1970s by Bob Stewart and Dave Shuford that occurred over four field seasons, where they supervised scores of volunteers in data collection using a grid system overlaid onto topographic maps of Marin County to determine the current distribution and composition of breeding birds. Their fieldwork culminated in the publication of Shuford’s landmark Marin County Breeding Bird Atlas. Now four decades later, 70 volunteers are in their fourth year of collecting data to determine where we are now. All the data is being stored digitally with the California Avian Data Center (CADC) and can be accessed by the public through the MCBBA2 Data Explorer.

Directions from the Point Reyes National Seashore Visitor Center: 

• From the Bear Valley Visitor Center, head north 0.2 miles (0.3 km) to Bear Valley Road.
• Turn left and follow Bear Valley Road 1.75 miles (2.8 km) northwest to Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.
• Turn left and follow Sir Francis Drake Boulevard 9.5 miles (15.2 km) north and west.
• Follow road signs for “Lighthouse” until you see a sign for “North District Operation Center.”
• Parallel park on the shoulder along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard near the entrance to the cypress tunnel.

Parking is limited to the shoulder of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard at the entrance to the cypress tree tunnel so carpooling is encouraged. Restrooms are available at the Visitor’s center and at the North Beach parking lot.