What walks, talks, and other nature-related events are coming up in Novato and North Marin in October? Read below for our upcoming events (free, but advanced registration required) as well as our monthly compilation of local guided walks and nature-related events sponsored by other groups.
Want advance notice of upcoming events?
Nature in Novato events are posted over the course of each month. Near the beginning of each month, they are listed in the Wild Birds Unlimited email newsletter, at which point most events fill up within a day or two. If you would like to beat the bird store crowd to the punch, you can subscribe to Nature in Novato and receive an email notice whenever a new post is published, including this monthly event summary, which goes out out a few days before the bird store newsletter. Just type your email address below! (All contact information is completely private and will not be used for any commercial purposes; unsubscribing is easy.)
Our Nature in Novato/Wild Birds Unlimited events are free of charge, but are limited to small groups for the best possible experience; please click through to each event to reserve your space.
Nature in Novato Events
Saturday, 10/12: San Rafael Bay Trail
Join guest leader Rich Cimino from Yellowbilled Tours and Jack from Wild Birds Unlimited for this walk on San Rafael’s Bay Trail. This is some of our closest access to the immediate bayshore, giving us a chance to see shorebirds, gulls, and a wide variety of ducks and grebes. Species that favor open, deep water like ruddy ducks, scaups, bufflehead, and the larger Clark’s and western grebes can often be seen here. We will also look for the Puget Sound variety of White-Crowned Sparrow and other songbirds.
For more details and to reserve your spot, visit the event page here.
Saturday, 10/19: Hamilton “Behind the Scenes” Birding Trip
Our full array of winter shorebirds and have now arrived, and there is no better local area for large numbers and diversity of plovers, sandpipers, stilts, avocets, and much more than at the restored Hamilton Wetlands in Novato. By mid-October, waterfowl and raptor numbers will also be nearing their peak, and winter songbirds like Say’s phoebes and Lincoln’s sparrows will be in place. On this special “behind the scenes” trip, we’ll travel in carpools on levees roads normally closed to public access from where we’ll get unique views of the wetlands as we approach the breach to San Pablo Bay with guides David Sexton, long-time bird monitor throughout the restoration project, and Jack from Nature in Novato.
For more details, visit the event page here.
Sunday, 10/20: Birding by Ear in Fall
In this presentation at Wild Birds Unlimited, we’ll be listening to and discussing how to recognize about 20 common backyard birds by the sounds they make in fall. In addition to the nitty-gritty, call-by-call material, we’ll also discuss the purpose of different bird vocalizations and the tips, tricks, and techniques that will make it easier both to remember these birds and to learn others in the future.
For more details, visit the event page here.
Other Upcoming Nature Events
The two most active other groups that regularly offer free public bird walks in our area are Marin Audubon Society and Marin County Parks. Check their calendars for additional scheduled events in other parts of the county; Novato and San Rafael-based activities are listed below.
October 2: Big Rock Ridge to the Summit, naturalist hike, Marin Open Space. See our profile of Big Rock Ridge.
October 3: Birds at Pacheco Pond, Marin Audubon. See our profile of Pacheco Pond.
October 5: Ponti Trail workday on Big Rock Ridge above Pacheco Valle, Marin Open Space.
October 13: Nature for Kids at Blackstone Canyon, Big Rock Ridge, Marin Open Space.
October 22: All About Oaks at Deer Island, Marin Open Space. See our profile of Deer Island.
October 24: Beginning Birding at Rush Creek, Bahia trailhead, Marin Audubon. See our profile of Rush Creek.
October 26: “Graveyard Stroll” with live owls, Lucas Valley, Marin Open Space.
Header photo: Western Grebe by Don McCullough. Grebes appear in the deeper waters of the Bay in fall, such as at our first October walk on the San Rafael Bay Trail.