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Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary

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Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary

A remarkable slice of nature on the shores of the San Francisco Bay.

07/25/2025

Happy Friday! ☀️ As we close out another fun, busy week, we wanted to share a snapshot of our summer youth programming:

Slide 1: After learning about sharks and their amazing adaptations during Shark Week of Audubon Adventure Camp, the campers created shark tooth necklaces from clay! 🦈

Slide 2: During Crafty Critters Week, campers learned about how worms play an important role in creating healthy soil from organic material and even got to hold some red wigglers from our own compost bucket! 🪱

Slides 3-4: On the last day of Bug Week, Paige Fernandez (SF Bay Program Manager) found a European mantis in our native plant gardens and brought it out for show-and-tell, perfectly connecting to our lesson on camoflauge and other animal defense adaptations. 🪲

Slide 5: After lunch every day, campers gather around for storytime before heading down to the beach to play, collect sea glass, and look for marine critters like harbor seals and leopard sharks 📖

Slides 6-7: This summer, we have 10 fantastic interns participating in our new Environmentalism in Media program, led by Mia Rosati (Community Conservation Fellow)! After discussing what they learned about Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) from watching the documentary film “Tending the Wild,” the interns put stewardship into practice by potting up plants in our native plant nursery. 🌱

07/22/2025

Summer StoryWalk is here! ☀️📚

Bring the whole family to the Richardson Bay Audubon Center and enjoy a self-guided stroll through the garden as you read “Hiking Day” by Anne Rockwell.

Want to join a special group reading? Meet us this Wednesday, July 23rd for an outdoor storytime hosted in partnership with !

Fresh air, beautiful illustrations, and nature exploration all in one—perfect for little explorers! 🧭

07/14/2025

Going on a hike for the first time is an adventure! 🥾Join us for our summer StoryWalk in partnership with , featuring “Hiking Day” by Anne Rockwell! 📚

Look for the signs to the StoryWalk from the main gate (under the wooden pergola) at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center. 🪧 The StoryWalk will be up from July 22-31 and can be visited anytime between 9 AM and 5 PM, Monday-Friday. Visitors are encouraged to enjoy the story as they roam the garden paths and to stop to observe shorebirds and other wildlife! 🐾🪶

Save the date for a special storytime event at 10 AM on Wednesday, July 23rd! Stay tuned for more info… 🗓️

Also, be sure to scan the QR code at the end of the walk for a secret password to redeem a prize at the library! 👀🔎

06/27/2025

Interested in participating in an exciting community science project to help scientists understand the impacts of wildfires on California’s birds? 🔥🦅

For thousands of years, has shaped the West Coast’s diverse . From forests to grasslands, fire forged the lands we love.

But fire is not what it used to be along the West Coast. Wildfires are larger and happen more frequently. And more fire means more .

Birds are highly sensitive to , but we know very little about how wildfire smoke impacts birds. Join our friends at and help researchers at and solve the mystery.

🐦‍🔥is a community science monitoring project to study the effects of smoke on in neighborhoods across California, Oregon, and Washington. By observing birds in your neighborhood for just **10 minutes a week**, you can help researchers learn more about bird responses to smoke. Data collection is ongoing, now through November 30th, and volunteers are accepted on a rolling basis—no previous birding experience required!

Sign up today at projectphoenix.study. Together, we can safeguard birds through ever-smokier summers.

06/09/2025

♻️ Eco-Everyday: Small Actions, Big Impact is a fun, hands on community Green Fest for all ages celebrating sustainability and the power of small actions! Hosted by Belvedere Tiburon Library () on Saturday, June 21, from 11 AM to 2 PM—it’s eco-fun for everyone! 🌎

Throughout the day, you can catch 20-minute pop-up programs run by local sustainability experts, including a Local Birds Walk-and-Talk led by Richardson Bay Audubon staff! 🦆🔭 We hope to see you there!

06/05/2025

🎉 Last Wednesday marked a significant milestone in our youth programming—our 2024-2025 Audubon Youth Leaders (AYLs) wrapped up their time with us and became Certified California Naturalists! 🤩 This year’s cohort was our largest ever, with 18 amazing interns!

Our final day together was full of reflection and pride. One student shared, “AYL has given me something to be passionate about and grounded in, which makes me feel stronger and more resilient adapting to change.” Another said, “My personality has changed a lot. I am kinder, more sensitive, and more confident.” 💚

Here’s a look at the final month of their internship:
🔎 To experience the joy and power of community science, the AYLs went on their first in Tennessee Valley, where they uploaded their wildlife observations to to help document the biodiversity found along the trail and on the beach.
🥾 For their final weekend field trip, the AYLs spent a relaxing afternoon watercolor painting and planting a coast live oak tree at the Center, followed by a stunning sunset hike through Ring Mountain Preserve.
🎓 After presenting their capstone Plant Relative Projects—where each student shared personal reflections and research on local native plants—they received their official certificates. They were also gifted AYL sweatshirts featuring a custom design by Audubon Coastal Leadership alum Valeree Catangay ()!

We are proud of their growth as young naturalists, environmental stewards, and community leaders. Go change the world, AYL alumni! 🌎

05/27/2025

Huge thanks to everyone who joined us for Family Nature Day last month in partnership with ! 🐢🔎 Your curiosity, laughter, and love for wildlife made it a truly special day. From live animal encounters to nature crafts and hikes, it was a joy to connect with and celebrate the wonders of the natural world together. 🪺🌱

We’re so grateful to our amazing community for making events like this possible! 🦉🐾

📷: Hannah Menth

04/24/2025

🐳🐬 A huge thank you to the Marine Mammal Center () for hosting our Audubon Youth Leaders yesterday!

Last year, our youth learned all about the Center’s work through the lens of pinnipeds, such as seals and sea lions. 🦭 This time, we dove into the world of cetaceans: whales, dolphins, and porpoises!

Our visit included a survey in the Marin Headlands, where we used binoculars and a spotting scope to look for cetaceans in the mouth of the San Francisco Bay. This was followed by a series of interactive activities, where we explored cetacean specimens and learned about ID techniques used by marine biologists to track cetaceans in the wild. 🔭🏷️

Even if we didn’t spot a gray whale or harbor porpoise on our visit, learning about the surveying process was so cool—and we were lucky to see a harbor seal relaxing on a rock among droves of double-crested cormorants, western grebes, and western gulls!

Thank you again to Joelle Vallejo and the team for inspiring the next generation of marine conservationists! 🌊🐋

04/18/2025

Paddles up for a wild adventure! 🛶🌊 Yesterday, our Audubon Youth Leaders hit the water in Sausalito with kayaks from to explore the rich marine life of Richardson Bay. We spotted graceful great blue herons, busy sandpipers, majestic double-crested cormorants, and even a friendly harbor seal who followed our group along the way! 🦭 Nothing beats learning about local wildlife from the water!

04/14/2025

🌿✨ Spring into nature at Family Nature Day! ✨🌿

Join us for WildCare’s Family Nature Day in Honor of Elizabeth Terwilliger — a FREE family-friendly day of outdoor fun, wildlife discovery, and creative nature activities! 🐾🌊🌼

📅 Saturday, April 26, 2025
🕙 10 AM – 2 PM
📍 Richardson Bay Audubon Center, located at 376 Greenwood Beach Rd
🎨 Crafts
👀 Birdwatching
🦉 Live wildlife
🥾 Naturalist hikes
🎒 Adventure Challenge + prizes
🌊 Bay views + picnic spots
💚 And more with amazing local orgs!

Let’s honor the incredible legacy of “Mrs. T,” whose passion for nature still inspires young explorers today. 🌎💫

👉 Details at discoverwildcare.org/family-nature-day and

04/04/2025

We’re bringing back Field Day Fridays— here are some highlights from our fieldwork over the last few months at Richardson Bay and beyond! 📸

1: This week, Paige Fernandez (SF Bay Programs Manager) and Mia Rosati (Community Conservation Fellow) removed the buoys that delineate the winter Richardson Bay Sanctuary boundary. 🚤🛟

2-3: Out in Strip Marsh East and Sonoma Creek, Paige and Mia installed multiple wells with sensors that measure pressure and salinity to understand how to restore water flow to this sensitive habitat. Mia and Emily Ohman (Senior Coordinator of Community Building) also assisted Paige with conducting point-count surveys of shorebirds and waterbirds in the marsh. 📋🛠️

4: Throughout the winter months, Paige and Mia completed 6 drone surveys over Richardson Bay as part of an ongoing study of how overwintering migratory waterbirds utilize the habitat that Richardson Bay provides. 🦆🧭

5: On a recent field trip to Audubon’s Bobcat Ranch in Winters, Audubon Youth Leaders (AYLs) assisted in habitat restoration efforts by mulching, weeding, and fixing cages around blue oak saplings. 🌳🪵

6: Students from returned to complete an Ecology Lab where they studied adaptations of native and invasive plants. After taking measurements of invasive plants from their roots to their shoots, the visiting students helped us plant several California Fuchsia plants in our demonstration gardens and learned about the importance of native plants for local wildlife. 🌿🌼

7: Our AYLs helped us give our Caspian Tern decoys a revamp with a fresh coat of paint! The decoys will soon be deployed on Aramburu Island in our ongoing efforts to attract a breeding colony to Richardson Bay. 🪺🎨

8-11: On Wednesday, our AYLs took kayaks and canoes over to Aramburu Island where they encountered nesting Canada Geese, various shorebirds (including Killdeer, Black-necked Stilts, and Western Sandpipers), and the remains of a deer! 🦌🛶

12: Yesterday, Paige and Mia dug a new garden bed at the Center that will soon be planted with native coastal scrub plants. 🌾⛏️

03/31/2025

The Mindful Birding Workshop was a truly special experience, bringing together participants from various Bay Area organizations to explore how birding can be more inclusive, accessible, and deeply connected to mindfulness. Set against the historic Lyford House and the diverse habitats of Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary, we immersed ourselves in the sights and sounds of nature. 🌿🪿

Guided by Barbara Patterson (.patterson.31945), we discussed strategies for welcoming participants, creating a comfortable space for observation and discussion, and co-creating guidelines for sharing. We embraced sit-spot journaling, allowing ourselves to slow down, observe, and reflect before setting out on a mindful walk along the trail. By pausing to notice birds before naming them, we took extra time to appreciate their behaviors and interactions. 🔎📝

At the second beach, we were rewarded with sightings of willets, gulls, egrets, scaup, and a striking black-necked stilt, all offering a moment of awe and connection. 🤩🧘

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us, shared their insights, and engaged so thoughtfully in this workshop. We’re grateful to be part of a growing community that values both birds and the mindful experience of observing them. 🩵✨

Address

376 Greenwood Beach Road
Tiburon, CA
94920

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+14153882524

Website

http://richardsonbay.audubon.org/

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