Today I went birding at Las Gallinas in Marin County with several members from the Master Birders Class that I finished the end of last year. There were many birds and as a group we saw 66 species. Highlights included a group of 13 Common Mergansers swimming in a group and doing synchronized diving, a large number of Black-crowned Night-Heron, frequently hearing and sometimes seeing Marsh Wrens, watching Forster’s Tern skimming along the top of the water (but never diving today) and a Sora.
click read more to see Bird List
Las Gallinas Valley WTP, Marin, California, US Bird List
Jan 24, 2016 8:15 AM – 11:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Comments: Partly overcast. Saw two river otters fishing in pond 1.
66 species (+1 other taxa)
Greater White-fronted Goose 1
Cackling Goose 1
Canada Goose 100
Mute Swan 9
Gadwall 20
American Wigeon 50
Mallard 10
Cinnamon Teal 4
Northern Shoveler 6
Northern Pintail 70
Green-winged Teal 6
Canvasback 20
Bufflehead 15
Common Goldeneye 1
Common Merganser 13 13 seen swimming in a tight group, diving and resurfacing as one.
Ruddy Duck 40
Pied-billed Grebe 6
Eared Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 5
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 4
Snowy Egret 5
Black-crowned Night-Heron 30
Turkey Vulture 7
White-tailed Kite 2
Northern Harrier 3
Cooper’s Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 3
Sora 2
Common Gallinule 4
American Coot 20
Mew Gull 20
Ring-billed Gull 20
Western Gull 20
California Gull 50
Herring Gull 1
gull sp. X
Forster’s Tern 20
Vaux’s Swift 2
White-throated Swift 2
Anna’s Hummingbird 3
Belted Kingfisher 1
American Kestrel 5
Black Phoebe 10
Say’s Phoebe 2
Western Scrub-Jay 1
American Crow 2
Common Raven 1
Tree Swallow 20
Violet-green Swallow 3
Marsh Wren 10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Western Bluebird 5
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 100
Common Yellowthroat 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler 50
White-crowned Sparrow 10
Golden-crowned Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 10
California Towhee 3
Red-winged Blackbird 8
Western Meadowlark 10
Brewer’s Blackbird 10
House Finch 15
Lesser Goldfinch 1
Natural History Wanderings 
Leave a Reply