13 Facts About Richardson Bay

Richardson Bay is a shallow, ecologically rich arm of San Francisco Bay, managed under a Joint Powers Agency of four northern California cities.

The 911-acre Richardson Bay Sanctuary was acquired in the early 1960s by the National Audubon Society.

Richardson Bay has been designated as an Important Bird Area, based upon its large number of annual bird visitors and residents, its sightings of California clapper rail and its strategic location on the Pacific Flyway.

Richardson Bay taught carpentry, boat building and navigation at Mission Dolores, served as Captain of the Port of San Francisco, and built the first significant residence in San Francisco, although it was meant to be a trading post.

Richardson Bay had charge of several schooners belonging to the Mission Dolores and Mission Santa Clara.

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Richardson Bay was thus named in the honor of this energetic early settler and builder.

Richardson Bay is developed on surficial sediments of clays, silts and minor sands and gravels deposited in a primarily marine and estuarine environment during periods of previous high stands of water relative to the present shoreline.

Common year around residents of the Richardson Bay Sanctuary include great blue heron, snowy egret, and great egret; mallard; red-tailed hawk and turkey vulture; killdeer and western gull; mourning dove and rock dove; Anna's hummingbird.

Mammals visiting Richardson Bay include the harbor seal, which hauls out on DeSilva Island and on the Tiburon shore near the Richardson Bay Audubon Sanctuary headquarters.

Upland plants found at the perimeter of Richardson's Bay include toyon, coast live oak, California bay, and native California bunch grasses.

At this line of demarcation the depth increases rapidly on the San Francisco Richardson Bay side, becoming 100 feet in depth almost immediately.

Boating in Richardson Bay is limited to small sailing craft and kayaks due to limited draft available, and nearly 900 acres of the bay is closed for six months during the winter each year to provide protection for the ecological system, particularly migratory waterbirds.

Richardson Bay receives inflow from numerous seasonal small unnamed streams and three major streams: Arroyo Corte Madera del Presidio which receives the surface runoff from the steep southeast slopes of Mount Tamalpais; Pickleweed Inlet; and Coyote Creek, which receives the runoff from the slopes to the west of Richardson Bay.