Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge - Alviso, CA
Posted by: 
saopaulo1
N 37° 26.432 W 121° 57.618
10S E 591973 N 4144250
The Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a great area to birdwatch. They even provide birdwatching kits.
Waymark Code: WM6067
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 03/10/2009
Views: 4
According to National Geographic: "Waders, waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wetlands species can be found at several accessible sites on the southern end of San Francisco Bay. The Tidelands Trail, a 1-mile [1.6-kilometer] loop, traverses marshland where Pied-billed and Eared Grebes, American Bittern, Great and Snowy Egrets, dabbling ducks, Common Moorhen, Black-necked Stilt, and American Avocet are present all year, and an array of shorebirds, gulls, and terns changes with the seasons. Follow Marshlands Road (closed April–Aug. to protect nesting Snowy Plover) to its end to walk the Shoreline Trail along the edge of the bay, where with luck (and high tide, which pushes birds up to drier ground) you might see a Clapper Rail—or with lots of luck, a Black Rail in winter. The trail leads north about 4 miles [6.4 kilometers] to Coyote Hills Regional Park, where more trails provide access to freshwater marsh. White-tailed Kite might be seen here or at the refuge.
The Mallard Slough and Alviso Slough Trails are excellent birding walks for wetland species. For more similar marsh habitat, take Embarcadero Road east from US 101 in Palo Alto, on the west side of the bay, to Palo Alto Baylands Preserve, where birders also look for Clapper Rail and, at high tide in winter, for the elusive Black Rail and Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow." (
visit link)
At the Alviso Education/Visitors center you can check out a birdwatching kit (which includes binoculars and brochures. There's also a place in the visitors center where you can mark any rare birds you've seen while birdwatching.