Local birders rate this modest set of valley ponds among the best hotspots around, and the checklist numbers back them up: 179 species recorded. Ducks, geese, and swans through winter and migration, shorebirds in spring and fall, and a steady rotation of raptors, from Peregrines and kestrels to Cooper's Hawks and eagles.
Shorebirds work the pond margins.
Quieter, but the raptors stay.
Migration turns the ponds over daily.
Swans and geese pack the wet fields.
Checking recent checklists…