A quick note for the pictures in this post: I inadvertently forgot to reset the white balance setting in my Canon SX40 from cloudy to clear blue, beautiful sky, so that the JPEG pictures below have a warm glow to them, which do not quite reflect the true conditions of that day. You can see my GoPro Fusion 360 photos for what that day really looked like.
This place is a bird and wildlife heaven! And it has beautiful scenery to boost! Located close to Stinson Beach, the drive on Hwy 1 to here is full of twists and turns and scenic views of Bolinas Bay in particular, and the Pacific Ocean in general. Finding a parking space to launch your kayak/SUP shouldn’t be hard, for there are many pull-outs along the road, so you can pick and choose whichever one is first available to you. If you want to launch from the town of Bolinas itself, you may want to go early in the morning, for parking spaces fetch a premium price there due to the many beach goers later in the day. Also, you should take note that the beach on the eastern end of the lagoon’s opening to the ocean is not accessible to the general public (this is the beach at the end of Seadrift Rd.), for it sits on private land where an attendant screens every passing car before permission for entrance is granted. Just find a place to park next to the lagoon along Hwy 1, or go to the town of Bolinas itself.
Oops! It seems like this post isn't published yet. Stay tuned for updates!I parked at a pull-out next to the lagoon close to the Audubon Ranch on Hwy 1. It’s big enough for two cars, and just across the street is one other spot with an old, abandoned shack that should be able to fit another car. I did a counter clockwise loop of the lagoon from this spot, heading north until reaching the lagoon’s boundary, then west, and then south along its western shore. There wasn’t much happening in this northern end of the lagoon: a congregation of some 10+ great and snowy egrets and two groups of unknown birds (possibly killdeers, but don’t quote me on that). But as soon as I paddled south toward Kent Island, lots and lots of birds appeared. If you are interested in wildlife, I’d highly recommend sticking to the southern half of the lagoon, from near the opening to the Pacific Ocean to the small islands near the eastern shore and Hwy 1. An app like Merlin will also be useful to identify birds by their calls. It’s really beautiful in this part of Marin County.
Paddling along the western shore and along the Olema Bolinas road, I saw and heard many waterfowl in the distance. They were hanging out closer to the big island (Kent Island), and a consultation with Merlin told me that these were American Wigeons. There must have been many hundreds of these wigeons, and they occupied a large swath of the water, even pushing into the marshes closer to the road.
Mixing with these wigeons were the occasional sea gulls. While the wigeons were more wary of people, the sea gulls were relatively at ease with a human being like myself. One gull even approached me without any apprehension, floating to and fro and pecking now and then in the water in search of food.
Then the view opened up with Mt. Tam (Mount Tamalpais) in the background, and a congregation of egrets and herons was fishing in a marsh. I paddled a bit closer and zoomed in all the way. Here is a close-up shot of them.
I then looked to my right and saw two great blue herons wading away from this congregation of birds. To my left was yet another small marshy island, and a lone long-billed curlew was hiding among its reeds. And just a bit beyond that was a family of long-billed curlews, with three juveniles following what seemed like a mama curlew.
Because the water was very shallow in these marsh (and also fairly shallow within the lagoon itself; it is strongly recommended that you launch a couple hours before high tides, and take out a couple of hours after high tide, and also use a shorter fin for the trip else you might get stuck in some areas when the water recedes) I opted to turned around and headed out to the deeper parts of the lagoon. As I approached Kent Island (the biggest island within Bolinas Lagoon), there were several smaller islands occupied by curlews, gulls, and pelicans.
Then I got to the big island itself. Suddenly there was a big commotion and sea gulls were flying left and right. They then settled down for a bit, but something must have disturbed them and they took flight again. This happened over and over again multiple times, and it seemed to me that only the gulls were being annoyed, for the curlews seemed to be going on their routines without any obvious distress.
I followed Kent Island to its southern boundary, where many shorebirds and harbor seals were hanging out in this area. In particular, dozens of curlews were fishing in the water and I managed to follow one of them engaging in the hunt.
Nearby, two cormorants were perching on a half-submerged tree branch. Another cormorant was in the water keeping a look out for them. I managed to take four photos of them before they realized I was aiming my camera at them. One cormorant turned its head toward me then flew away. The other two must have taken that as a cue and joined him soon after.
There was just so much to see in a relatively small area. As it was a beautiful day with a clear blue sky and hardly any strong wind that would impede my paddle, I was busy taking pictures here and there through out this trip. There was wildlife everywhere I looked, and if my Canon SX40 could have a little more zoom, the day would have been even better (I left my Coolpix P530 in the car, which has a 1000mm equivalent focal length compared to only 850mm for the Canon SX40). The beautiful scenery and abundance of wildlife made this paddle one of the best in the SF Bay Area!
Oops! It seems like this post isn't published yet. Stay tuned for updates!Just when I was about to turn around (for it was already a couple of hours past high tide), a few harbor seals surfaced and took a peek at me. I think this could have been a sign that I was too close to their territory and that I was not welcomed there. I managed to take a couple of photos before paddling back to my launch point.
When I finally turned around, the water was dangerously low in some part of the lagoon. I was nearly stuck in certain areas, and had to paddle fast to make it back to my car before the outgoing tides had me stranded. In hindsight, I should have aimed for and paddled along the eastern shore (by Hwy 1), for Google Satellite Map seems to show that this part is deepest compared to those toward the center of the lagoon. Occupying a couple of islands in the middle of the lagoon (only visible with outgoing tides) were hundreds of pelicans. There were no other species allowed to mingle with them on these =)
With that, I got back to my car in one piece, rolled up my board and said goodbye to Bolinas Lagoon. It was a fun and beautiful paddle, definitely one of the best destinations here in NorCal!
