By Ilana DeBare

Bay Area birdwatchers have long flocked to Audubon Canyon Ranch’s flagship Martin Griffin preserve along Bolinas Lagoon, which for years hosted dozens of egret nests.

But almost no local birders have set foot on another ACR property—its dramatic Toms Point preserve on the northern edge of Tomales Bay.

Toms Point is a 70-acre promontory near the mouth of the bay with striking views of Point Reyes and the largest intact dune ecosystem in this part of California. Protected by ACR since 1985, it’s normally off-limits to the public.

Now—through our online Birdathon Adventure Auction—Golden Gate Bird Alliance is offering an extremely rare guided tour of Toms Point led by the site’s former steward, Dan Gluesenkamp.

“Toms Point is a magical landscape, a promontory where cold Pacific winds meet the soil of North America, where ocean currents mix with the rich waters of Tomales Bay,” said Gluesenkamp, who spent a decade in the early 2000s as Director of Habitat Protection and Restoration for Audubon Canyon Ranch “You have the diversity of intact habitats, the feeling of the wind, the magic of the location…. Anyone who visits will understand how special this place is.”

Reaching Toms Point requires exiting Highway 1 for a dirt road and passing through a private cattle ranch and multiple locked gates. The last gate opens onto ungrazed land—primeval scrub land blasted by sea winds.

The site contains a surprisingly large number of distinct habitats, from coastal sand dunes with rare dune annuals, to salt marsh and grasslands. The San Andreas Fault crosses the property, with each side holding a different ecosystem. The eastern side of the fault  is sandstone with invasive grasses; the western side is unconsolidated marine sediments that support California native grasses.

“It’s a Disneyland of different habitat types,” Gluesenkamp said. “Like stepping from Tomorrowland into Frontierland, you can step from one habitat to another.”

There are no structures on Toms Point, not even a toolshed or restroom. Its open grasslands often bring sightings of Grasshopper Sparrow, White-tailed Kite, Northern Harrier, and Western Meadowlark, while the Tomales Bay shoreline offers loons, grebes, cormorants, and Baird’s and Pectoral Sandpipers.

Gluesenkamp’s personal expertise is plants—he’s the former Executive Director of California Native Plant Society, and currently the executive director of the California Institute for Biodiversity—and he easily identifies native wildflowers such as popcorn flower (Plagiobothrys) and beach starwort (Stellaria littoralis). …