The Alameda shoreline, with miles of sandy white beaches and stunning views of the bay, is one of our local environmental treasures. During the fall and winter it is also a magnet for hundreds of shorebirds -- dunlin, godwits, peeps, … Continue reading
We return to early frontier California at Rush Ranch, part of the Grizzly Island Wildlife Area near Fairfield. This is a Gold Rush-era farm complete with horse corrals and old barns, set within 2,000 acres of grasslands and marshes. The land … Continue reading
At Las Gallinas, hundreds of acres of grasslands, ponds and marshes extend from a small water treatment facility. The marshes recede in all directions for hundreds of yards, and are surrounded by the beautiful hills of Marin. Acre for acre, … Continue reading
This wild and open expanse of East Bay hills is part of Garin Dry Creek regional park, high above the city of Hayward. Our bracing tour will also include riparian groves and oak woodlands, additional habitats for many varieties of … Continue reading
Sat. Oct. 12, 9am-12am This large wetland complex of several hundred acres along the Petaluma River is a wonderful setting for viewing a great array of birdlife year-round. Against a panoramic view of the Marin hills to the south, herons, … Continue reading
Sat. Nov. 2, 9am-12pm At Las Gallinas hundreds of acres of grasslands, ponds and marshes extend around a small water treatment facility. In the distance, the marshes are surrounded by the beautiful hills of Marin. It is an idyllic location. … Continue reading
Sat. Feb. 1, 9am-12pm This large regional park in Fremont (East Bay, north of San Jose) has everything: extensive cat-tail marshes, grasslands, hills and woodlands. It also has an outstanding Visitors’ Center, with dioramas and large frescos depicting birds, wildlife … Continue reading
Sat. March 7, 9am-12pm Home to thousands of migratory birds over the winter, this section of the Palo Alto marshes and shoreline has some of the greatest concentrations of wildfowl, shorebirds, raptors and waders of any in the Bay Area. … Continue reading
Sat. April 18, 9am-12am Tucked away east of Fremont, in south-east Alameda County, is Sunol Regional Park, perhaps the most beautiful and wild of Alameda’s nature preserves. Covered in oak woodlands, surrounded by high crags and bisected by Alameda Creek, … Continue reading
Sat. May 9, 10am-1pm At nearly 4,000 feet, Mt. Diablo sits in solitary splendor high above Contra Costa county, monarch of all it surveys. So high much of northern California can be seen from its summit, as well as, on … Continue reading