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Map Satellite Rodeo Lagoon and the nearby Bird Rock provide an excellent habitat for a variety of birds.
Rodeo Lagoon is a fresh-to-brackish-water lagoon which normally does not flush to the ocean. Scattered about on the margins of the main lagoon are brackish and freshwater marshes. Salicornia sp. occurs in the brackish; cattail, Typha sp., and tule, Scirpus sp., in the freshwater marshes. At the eastern end, separated from the main lagoon by a roadway, is a lush freshwater marsh.
The open water of the lagoon is frequented by numerous gulls, ducks and other waterfowl as a resting and feeding area. Utilization is particularly high during the migratory season. The sora, Porzana carolina, is found here.
Bird Rock is a resting place for cormorants and other sea birds. There is a small breeding colony of the pelagic cormorant, Phalacrocorax pelagicus.
Rodeo Lagoon is a drowned valley with a barrier beach. Bird Rock is formed of greenstone of the Franciscan formation.
Integrity: The lagoon has been stocked, fished and hunted; a road, with culverts, divides the eastern end from the main lagoon. The vegetation is disturbed but the birds are numerous.
Use: Research, educational, observational, present.
Ref: Bedrossian, T. L., 1974. Geology of the Marin Headlands. Calif. Geol. 27 (4), pp. 75-86.
February 1978
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2008 Steven Louis Hartman
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