Mendocino County is renowned for its great northern seacoast, rural charm and deep wild forests. Rugged headlands are pounded by enormous breakers; unspoiled rivers like the Navarro and Albion meet the sea to create expansive beaches. The town of Mendocino … Continue reading
Home of the Holy Grail of rails (the Black rail), this section of Palo Alto marsh and shoreline has some of the greatest concentrations of wildfowl, shorebirds, raptors and waders in the Bay Area. Herons and egrets, stilts, Avocets, rails … Continue reading
Bodega Bay, nestled on the Sonoma coast west of Sebastopol, is one of our most exciting local birding locations, designated an IBA (Important Bird Area) by the American Bird Conservancy. The towering headlands, coves and marshes surrounding the bay protect … Continue reading
For wilderness and wildlife this one can’t be beat! In a nutshell, hundreds of thousands of migrating shorebirds, wildfowl and raptors pass through the Klamath Basin on the California-Oregon border every fall. The refuge, a series of lakes, forests and … Continue reading
This day tour of the central valley will feature a wide variety of birds, beginning with the UC Davis Raptor Center. We’ll search for ducks, raptors, woodpeckers and flycatchers along Putah Creek before viewing the many species of raptors and … 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
The complex of wildlife refuges near Los Banos and Merced in the Central Valley (two hours south of the East Bay) comprise over 50,000 acres of preserved wetlands and grasslands. They are one of the few remaining places to see … Continue reading
Tucked away among the sloughs and grasslands of Grizzly Island Wildlife Area near Fairfield is the 2,000 acre Rush Ranch Open Space preserve. It is a mosaic of 19th century barns, farm equipment and horse corrals, part of the frontier … Continue reading
This great wildlife preserve in the San Joaquin Valley, two hours south of the East Bay, totals more than 50,000 acres of marshes and riparian woodlands. It also provides one of the greatest wildlife spectacles still found in California. In … Continue reading
Well-known to nature lovers, the Marin coast is one of the Bay Area’s natural and cultural treasures. This day trip to the secluded village of Bolinas will demonstrate why: the soaring Bolinas Ridge and the pristine Pacific coastline, thick coastal … Continue reading