Field Trips

Come explore with us!

The Bruin Birding Club hosts field trips many weekends during the academic year.  We visit a wide range of sites, which vary in distance to campus and habitat type. Most of these trips are day trips, but at least once per year we have an overnight camping trip.

Our field trips are led by at least two leaders who are trained in our Policies for Leading Field Trips. We do our best to ensure that everyone -- from beginning to expert birders-- has an awesome time, sees some cool birds, and learns a lot on our trips. We have 11 pairs of binoculars we lend out during our trips, and organize carpools from campus. We do our best to make these trips free or low cost to participants.

To attend a field trip, you must sign up for the trip ahead of time. Keep an eye on the newsletter for field trip announcements and sign-ups!


A few sites we've visited & recommend:

Sepulveda Basin

Ballona Freshwater Marsh & Ballona Jetty

Malibu Lagoon

Malibu Creek State Park

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve

Bonelli Regional Park

A few species we've seen:

California Condor, Ridgway's Rail, Sandhill Crane, Vermilion Flycatcher, Burrowing Owl, California Gnatcatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, White-tailed Kite, Snowy Plover, Lawrence's Goldfinch, Red Crossbill, Barrow's Goldeneye, Cactus Wren, and many more!

Visit our eBird profile to see checklists for our past trips.

Snow Geese, Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge (Photo: Nurit Katz)