Brian Smith's Photos

Spent a Sunday afternoon at the Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District ponds — not the most glamorous name for a place, but one of the best birding spots in Marin, and it more than delivered.

A snowy egret, a red-winged blackbird, and a mute swan within the first half hour — a promising start.

A yellow-rumped warbler (the first of several — clearly the most sociable bird on site that day), an American pipit working the mud, and a white pelican looking enormous next to everything else.

A downy woodpecker, then a nice bit of variety in the goose department — a cackling goose with a couple of Ross’s geese for company.

Turned the lens away from the birds for a moment — Mt Tam in one direction, and in the other, the less scenic but honestly kind of fascinating view over to the Richmond refineries and Rat Rock Island.

Best sighting of the day, easily — an American kestrel, North America’s smallest falcon, hovering just long enough for a proper look.

Another yellow-rumped warbler, a common merganser, and a tree swallow to round out the second wave.

A tricolored blackbird and a green heron, tucked in close to the reeds.

Wrapped up with a common gallinule, a pied-billed grebe, and — of course — one more yellow-rumped warbler for the road. Somewhere around 19 species in one afternoon, which for a stretch of ponds by a sanitary district is not a bad return at all.