Mark your calendar: Plan a weekend daytrip to Marin before July 12th to see newborn Snowy Egrets and Great Blue Herons at Audubon Canyon Ranch, in West Marin. After Sunday, July 12, the ranch closes for summer, so the fledgling birds can find their wings in peace.

Show your children these magnificent winged creatures, and watch their eyes light up. Then tell them how this ranch is the reason there’s not a freeway up the Marin-Sonoma coast.

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