Field Trips

Thursday, April 3, 2025 8:30 AM to noon Birding with Mark Clark 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 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. 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 a portable restroom in the parking area for public use.

Birding in Marin | Season 10, Trip 4
Saturday, April 5, 2025
8:30 AM – mid afternoon
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this Field Trip

Registration is required for this trip. Registration opens on March 26 at 8:00 AM.

Join Jim and Bob for an easy walk around the Five Brooks pond with a chance to see beautiful Wood ducks. Our late master Rich Stallcup installed wood duck nesting boxes with a little of my help back in the 1990s. Bob and I with some consistent help refurbish the boxes each spring. We will also have a chance to see some woodpeckers including the large and loud Pileated as well as other forest birds.

The Bear Valley visitor center will be our second area to visit where we like to take another gentle walk around the Earth Quake Trail. We hope to find some recently arrived nesting birds such as Warbling Vireo, Western Wood Pewee, Black-headed Grosbeaks and Pacific Slope Flycatchers.

Bring lunch, drinks. Heavy Rain cancels.

Directions: Meet at the Five Brooks parking lot. Take Highway 1 north 17 miles from Mill Valley, or 8 miles from Stinson Beach or 5 miles South of Olema at the Sir Francis Drake Blvd intersection. There is a 1/4 mile access road up to the parking area. 

Wednesday, April 23, 2025
7:30 AM to 12:00 PM ** Please note start times below
Birding with William Legge & David Wiechers
Register HERE for this Field Trip

Registration is required for this trip. Registration opens April 13 at 8 AM.

With spring migration underway, we’ll 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 8:15 AM for a circuit of the lagoon. A brief mid-morning ‘coffee-stop’ is planned at the Headlands Center for the Arts. Your contribution for coffee via the onsite “tip-jar” would be appreciated. This field trip is less suitable for beginners.

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, April 30, 2025
8:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Birding with Liz Lewis
Register HERE for this Field Trip

Registration required. Registration opens on April 20 at 8AM

As we saunter along the Roy’s Redwood loop trail and the newly restored floodplains and meadows, spring migrant arrivals we will be looking (and listening) for are Warbling Vireo, Wilson’s Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Western Wood Pewee, Western Flycatcher and Ash-throated Flycatcher.

Besides listening and looking for migrants, we will also seek out the resident species who nest in Roy’s Redwoods: including Hairy Woodpecker, Pacific Wren, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Hutton’s Vireo and several raptors. The trail is generally flat with a gentle rise. Please remember to dress in layers and to bring water and snacks. There is a portable bathroom available at the trailhead.

Directions: Meet at Roy’s Redwoods Preserve trailhead, on Nicasio Valley Road, about 0.5 north of Sir Francis Drake Blvd. or about 3.5 miles south of Lucas Valley Rd. Parking is available along Nicasio Valley Road near the trailhead. 

Thursday, May 1, 2025
8:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Birding with Mark Clark

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 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.

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 a portable restroom in the parking area for public use.

Birding in Marin, Season 10, trip 5
Saturday, May 3, 2025
8:30 AM to mid afternoon
Birding with Jim White and Bob Battagin
Register HERE for this Field Trip

Registration required. Registration opens April 23 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 many 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.

Monday, May 5, 2025
8:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Trip Leader: Jude Stalker
Trip Cost: $120 per person
Register HERE for this Field Trip

Registration required. Registration opens April 10 at 8 AM

This trip begins at the historic Vallejo and Mare Island waterfronts and continues into a different world, one of vineyards, backwater homes, and some of the largest contiguous marshes in the Bay Area. Even before leaving the dock, you’ll spot diving ducks and grebes feeding. At Mare Island, you’ll pass Ospreys and egrets roosting in nearby trees. As the boat passes under Highway 37, you might even catch a pair of Peregrine Falcons during this springtime cruise alongside the Napa/Sonoma marshes. A variety of raptor species are common and occasionally both golden and bald eagles are seen.

The trip costs $120. A waitlist will open if the trip sells out. Join the waitlist by clicking the Contact Organizer prompt. If you cancel your registration more than one week before the start of the trip AND we can fill your spot with someone else on the waitlist, you will be reimbursed unless you would like to convert your registration fee into a tax-deductible donation to MAS.

Ticket holders will receive instructions and directions to the Vallejo Marina, approximately one week prior to the trip.