Marin hike: Where to go for a wildlife show

The Las Gallinas Ponds put on a wildlife show most days. Almost always the star performers are waterfowl. They may include at different times: mute swans, white pelicans, great blue herons and night herons, great and snowy egrets, an amazing variety of ducks and others. But occasionally, the show might feature raptors or other birds and much more rarely, river otters, deer or jackrabbits.

Sometimes the show will be dramatic, sometimes just some ducks floating on a pond, sometimes not much at all. The performances and performers are different every day, sometimes every minute — scheduled, cast, directed and produced by nature’s rhythms.

The Las Gallinas Ponds hike itself is beautiful and flat with good footing, accessible to almost everyone. You can design your hike to loop one, two or all three ponds in any configuration and length you choose. Don’t forget to look at the neighboring marshes and fields, the hills and Mount Tamalpais, and the sky above, for all display differing subtle shades of color.

• Getting there: Take Highway 101 to the Lucas Valley/Smith Ranch Road exit and head east on Smith Ranch Road toward McInnis Park and golf course. Just feet after crossing the railroad tracks, get in the left lane and turn left. Continue on the road and through the left gate to the road’s end. You may park in the parking lot on the left or along the road. Even with many cars, the hike will not seem crowded.

• Hike summary: The Las Gallinas Ponds hike is flat with good footing with a route and length of your choice. The hike from the trailhead circling the first pond back to the trailhead is approximately 1 mile. It is generally the pond with most of the wildlife action and is sometimes called the “Wildlife Pond.”

Occasionally, there is a disagreeable odor in the parking lot area, which you will leave behind once you walk over the short bridge leading to the first pond. Port-a-potty available in parking lot. Dogs on leash allowed. Bring your binoculars.

• The hike: Starting from just over the bridge, you can proceed straight or turn left. Observe the pond both ways and take the direction you wish.

The varieties of wildlife present and their actions are unpredictable, so your experience might be quite different from mine. As I write, the large white mute swans (not native but introduced to California) are the most reliable show at the ponds. Not only are they beautiful and graceful, but they are more active than usual since it appears to be courtship season. They are ruffing up their feathers and flying around, mostly by circuitous routes between the first and second ponds. My wife Mary and I were recently delighted by their flights and the rhythmic “chuff, chuff, chuff” of their wings against the air as they flew nearby.

The many different species of ducks are also on display. Ducks are divided into two categories: dabbling ducks (such as mallards) that lower their bills to feed and rarely dive, and diving ducks, that often dive and disappear under water to feed, but sometimes dabble. With curiosity and binoculars, it is always interesting to learn or identify the various species of ducks.

Three weeks ago, I saw an elongated dark smudge moving fast through the water on the second pond near the first pond, and my mind said, “Otter.” However, I became confused when a wing from the dark shape appeared briefly above water. The mystery was solved when a river otter scooted across the narrow isthmus and path between the ponds with a duck in its jaws and disappeared into the first pond’s cattails.

A week ago, my friend Richard Drake happened upon two river otters seemingly grooming each other near the south shore of the first pond. He managed to take a photograph before they dove under and surfaced far away, scarcely visible. But do not go on this hike thinking you will see otters — they are always a longshot.

What I have seen reliably every time in the last few weeks are red-winged blackbirds chattering away, stately swans gliding gracefully over the water and egrets. The great egret — true to its name — is the larger egret, pure white with a yellow bill and black feet. The snowy egret is smaller and dressed oppositely, with a dark bill and yellow feet.

Even with no interesting wildlife, the hike is good for mind, body and spirit. The ponds are always beautiful — the light plays off the water, and the water frequently carries an impressionistic reflection of the clouds and tinted sky. The wild radish, the brown marshes and the green fields make for enchanting surroundings. And the soundtrack swells at various times from the cattails teeming with unseen bird life or from the sky above where the ducks, Canada geese or swans converse, each in its own language beyond our ken.

The Las Gallinas Ponds can be a hike, walk or saunter. It need not be long. As Henry Thoreau put it during the month he finished “Walden,” “It matters not . . . how far you travel, but how much alive you are.”

I believe the Las Gallinas Ponds will make you feel more alive.

A longtime avid hiker and Marin resident, Jim Holden is the author of two nonfiction books: “It Happened in Marin” and “Adventure Lives, Daring Acts.” He can be reached at MarinhikingJim@gmail.com