Pajaro Valley
| Pinto Lake |
| Watsonville Sloughs West of Highway 1 |
| Pajaro River Corridor |
| Pajaro Dunes and Pajaro River Mouth |
| Sunset State Beach |
| Other Spots in the Pajaro Valley |
(Click to Enlarge)
What locals call “South County” includes the Pajaro Valley and the coast from the town of La Selva Beach to the Pajaro R. It offers excellent birding among diverse habitats: lakes and ponds, large wetlands and sloughs, extensive riparian forest, oak woodland, planted stands of pines, pasture, agricultural fields, coastal scrub, and long sandy beaches. Despite their extraordinary value as ecotourism destinations, aesthetic marvels, and vital contributors to the region’s environmental health, some of these habitats are threatened by recent land use decisions.