To find the latest information about birds in the Santa Cruz area, with daily reports from local birders, you may wish to sign on to the Monterey Bay Birders' listserver at http://santacruzbirdclub.org/listserv.html

September marks the peak of fall migration, with wintering shorebirds arriving en masse. Warblers and other passerines are doing the same, and we even start seeing the first appearances of wintering ducks and other waterfowl. Meanwhile, at sea, jaegers, shearwaters and alcids are all present in great numbers. There is no better time to visit the Monterey Bay area to see the greatest number of species or find a rarity.

Watsonville Wetlands encompass a variety of habitats (and the birds associated with those habitats), including:

Riparian corridors
Fresh-water and brackish marshes
Seasonal and permanent lakes
Grasslands
Oak scrub
Coastal beaches
Open ocean

Among the hundreds of bird species visiting these varied environs are these regular visitors and/or local breeders.

Golden Eagle
White-tailed Kite
Peregrine Falcon
Wilson's Snipe
Virginia Rail
Sora
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Snowy Plover
California Thrasher
Wrentit

The Wetlands of Watsonville and Elkhorn Slough are a mecca for shorebirds, with over 25 species regularly being seen through the fall and winter. Shorebirds present include:

Black-bellied Plover
Snowy Plover
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet,
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Western and Least Sandpiper
Short- and Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Red Knot
Greater Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Black Turnstone
Surfbird

The entire Monterey Bay region has the added attraction of being one of the premier locations for finding vagrants and wanderers from all of North America and even Asia. This combination of a huge variety of regularly occurring birds and the potential for rarities truly makes the Pajaro Valley a destination that provides something for birders of all levels of skill and experience.