Take a Watershed Tour
Maps
Spotlight: Santa Venetia Marsh Open Space Preserve
Gallinas Creek Canoe Tours
Gallinas Creek Canoe Tours
Get an up-close look at Gallinas Creek.
GWC is offering FREE tours, via canoe, of the still-natural, largely inaccessible portion of Gallinas Creek – the area between McInnis Park and Redwood Boulevard.
This area is home to the endangered California clapper rails as well as river otters, but is under increasing pressure from nearby development and storm drain runoff (i.e. trash) from the Northgate Mall area of Terra Linda.
If you feel comfortable in either the bow or center of a canoe, one of our GWC members will be glad to give you a guided tour.
The best time to see how human activities in the watershed affect the creek, is during or just after winter rain storms. If you don’t mind some rain, ask for one of our “Open Eye” tours. Guaranteed to make a lasting impression.
Call Art Reichert (472-5814) for Canoe Tours.
Canoe Tour Quotes
“Spending time on the Gallinas Creek and its tributaries in a canoe gave me a unique perspective on the beauty and vitality of this watershed. Protection of the watershed is vital to the well-being of local habitat and of our natural environment. I look forward to continuing to work with Art Reichert, Robert Dobrin and others in preserving and strengthening this wonderful asset for our community.”
Damon
“I am grateful for the opportunity to canoe with Art Reichert and Robert Dobrin. We are truly connected in the built environment to the watershed and the tributaries that lead to the Bay. How we conduct our lives on the street level was visible in the empty bottles and bags along the stream. We can do much better and I look forward to working with Santa Venetia neighborhood leaders and the Gallinas Watershed Council to restore this natural wonder so that I can share this experience with my children.”
Marc
Maps
Here are some websites that offer a variety of maps and geographical information:
Marin Map
- Geographic Information System (GIS) web map applications from a consortium of County agencies
Parks and Recreation in Marin County
- Hiking and Biking trails, elevation and aerial photos and more park information
Wildmap Marin
- Find out where in Marin Open Spaces various birds, butterflies, mammals and reptiles live. Learn about local animal species
Santa Venetia Marsh Open Space Preserve
Santa Venetia Marsh Open Space Preserve is a great place to walk around a salt water marsh environment. Once common throughout the Bay Area, much of this fragile ecosystem has disappeared through the years as development pressures have increased.
This wetland is situated in a habitat migration corridor and hosts a variety of shore birds, including the endangered California clapper rail.
The California Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) is one of the most endangered species in California.
Other endangered species include the tiny thumb-sized Saltmarsh Harvest Mouse. and the California Red-Legged Frog.
Official Marin Open Space District Website
Map: SANTA VENETIA, SAN PEDRO MOUNTAIN AND SANTA MARGARITA ISLAND OPEN SPACE PRESERVES
Clapper Rail
The California Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) is one of the most endangered species in
California. This is because it’s habitat, which is marshland, has been severely reduced by the influence of humans in the Bay Area. It hides in marshes, for example at the Santa Venetia Open Space Preserve and the Santa Margarita Island.
Clapper rails are almost never seen but often heard. In the marshes you can catch the distinctive call all year round, which is a series of clacking or grunting notes. If you are very lucky you might even see one. The Clapper Rail has been described as looking like a small chicken (approx. 14 inches tall) with a long beak. The flanks are striped and the tail is rather short.
What do Clapper Rails eat? Crustaceans and invertebrates, some small vertebrates, and seeds.
The species is dependent on tidal wetlands, which have decreased over 75% from the historical extent in San Francisco Bay.
But there is good news as well: according to a 2009 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Report detections of Clapper Rails at 26 sites in San Pablo Bay (Pt. San Pedro/Pt. San Pablo to Carquinez Bridge) increased 16%,from 225 (range: 207 to 243) in 2008 to 260 (range 219 to 299) in 2009.
The Gallinas Creek complex holds the largest known Clapper Rail population in San Pablo Bay, and detections increased from 113 to 136 (+20%).
Other Birds
If you visit the marshes of the Gallinas Valley Watershed you will see many other birds. You’ll see:
- ducks
- geese
- mallards
- seagulls
- egrets
- great blue herons
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Our marsh areas lie in a habitat migration corridor, and that means many, many species of birds visit us every year.
