A guide to Marin’s summer shorebirds

Summer is generally not thought of as the season for shorebirds in the North Bay. While some waterbirds are here abundantly all year round — herons, egrets, mallards and Canada geese — the great majority of our shorebird species head north or inland to nest, leaving our wetlands and mudflats largely depopulated of the long-legged, long-beaked probers and pickers like yellowlegs, willets, godwits, curlews and dowitchers. But “largely depopulated” is very different than “completely barren,” and...