Bay Area Bird Vocalizations

Registration opens on Wednesday, February 4 at 1pm and closes at 11 pm on Monday May 4. 

Instructor: Lynn Perry (lperry@perryip.com)

Description: Spring is the best time to learn, test and improve your bird vocalization skills. Learning bird sounds will help you find birds. Sometimes calls and songs (and other sounds birds make) are the only sign you will have of the presence of a given species. Other times, bird sounds will help you distinguish between two similar looking species. We will study songs and calls of our local Bay Area birds utilizing an array of techniques. Whether you are a beginner or intermediate, this class will power up your skills to identify the birds you are likely to encounter in the field. This, in turn, will give you a greater appreciation of where birds are and what they are saying.

Recordings of the lecture presentations will be available to class participants for a limited period of time.
 
Field trips: 
 
Sunday, May 10: Tennessee Valley Trail (Mill Valley), 8:30 to 11:30 am
 
Well-groomed 1.8 mile (one-way) trail. While it goes out to the ocean, I don’t expect we’ll get that far. There’s much to see (and hear) inland. The first quarter-mile is asphalt; then it becomes packed dirt. Shortly after the pavement ends, the trail splits into the upper and lower Tennessee Valley Trails. We will follow the easier lower trail which is more accessible. There is a bench less than a quarter-mile from the parking lot. Except for a small eucalyptus stand this trail has no shade, and  it’s popular on weekends. 
 
There are abundant parking and restrooms. It’s a beautiful place with lots of trails so you may want to stay longer than our allotted time.

Directions: 101 North (from San Francisco); take the Highway 1 (Shoreline) exit OR From 101 South (from Richmond Bridge) take Highway 1 (Shoreline) exit and turn RIGHT at bottom of exit.

Proceed about .3 miles to Tennessee Valley Rd (streetlight), and turn LEFT. Proceed 1.6 miles to the end and park in the lot or along the road if the lot is full. We will meet in the parking lot near the bathrooms. Lots of good birding right around the parking lot.

Sunday, May 17: Escalon Trailhead (Camino Alto Open Space Preserve, Mill Valley) 8:30 to 11:30 am

DO NOT FOLLOW GOOGLE MAPS. It will take you to the wrong trailhead.

A gentle upward fire road trail about 1.3 miles in length (one-way). There are a couple of places where it is a little bit steeper and a few areas of the fire road are rocky and rutted.
There are no bathrooms or benches and opportunities for “comfort” stops are nearly non-existent (poison oak & treacherous footing).

There's lots of street parking. Since it's a weekend, however, and there will be many of us, I suggest you get there early and carpool. The parking spots right next to the trailhead are problematical because it isn't paved and it’s rutted there. So I would suggest turning left at Escalon when you get to the top of the hill at the T intersection of Overhill and Escalon, and park on the street there.  

This spot is near the Bayfront Trail which begins at Blithedale Ave. and ends at Sausalito (about 2.5 miles one-way). It offers lots of bird species, too, as well as beautiful views. So you may want to plan to stay after and do some more birding.

There are no restrooms here, and the trail doesn’t offer private opportunities. There are restrooms in the Whole Foods you will pass on Blithedale. If you miss that entrance, turn RIGHT at Lomita Drive (just prior to the turn on Camino Alto) and turn immediately into the shopping center. There’s also a bathroom kiosk at Hauke Park next to the Mill Valley Public Safety Bldg. on Hamilton.

Two Tuesday evening classes by Zoom:  May 5 and 12, 7:00 to 9:00 pm

          (Zoom link will be provided when you register.)

Two Sunday morning field trips: May 10 and May 17, 8:30 am to 11:30 am

Limited to 16 participants.

Price: $130 ($104 for GGBA and Marin Audubon Society members, a 20% discount).

MAS members should contact Doug Waterman (dglswtrmn@gmail.com) to obtain a discount code to register at the GGBA website.