Self-guided Birding Locations
This is a delightful little park located in a quiet neighborhood adjacent to open space. Packed with many species, it a wonderful place to relax and bird when you have limited time. In the springtime be on the lookout for breeding activities including nest building and the raising of young. Practice your birding by ear as bird song fills the air. While the lawn may be occupied by people having a picnic or a quick volleyball game, the paved trail is never crowded.
Sitting adjacent to an avian flyway (the Guadalupe River), surrounded by suburban sprawl, and boasting the last remnant forest in the city of Santa Clara, Ulistac holds its own as a spring migrant trap. Enjoy the smell of native plants and trees in the restored areas of the park and witness the gradual process of forest regeneration.
For great habitat in an urban setting, visit this paved trail along the Los Gatos Creek in San José. It’s the perfect location for spring migrants!
Visit the quiet Rosendin Park in the rolling hills of Morgan Hill for a wide variety of birds, the seasonal pond, sweeping views and the wildflowers!
Old Oak Glen Avenue in Morgan Hill is a wonderful place to peacefully look at spring migrants. There is oak woodland on one side of the road, and Llagas Creek along the other. Swainson’s Thrush is often found here, a hard-to-find bird in our area.
Springtime at the Stanford Dish Trail, part of the Stanford University campus, offers a mix of wintering grassland birds, hunting raptors, and singing spring migrants. Though often rather busy, this 3.6-mile loop is popular for good reason: sweeping views, rolling hills, a pleasant patchwork of woodland and pastureland, and—of course—a multitude of birds!
January through March, Western and Clark’s Grebes are performing their spectacular courtship displays. Calero Reservoir in San José south of Almaden Valley can be a fairly easy place to watch them.
If you’re looking for youth-centered birding in Almaden Valley, Lake Almaden offers close views of Mallards, Canada Geese, and many other waterbirds. In Spring, the heron colony on the Bird Sanctuary Island provides excitement and the stroller-friendly path and playgrounds make this destination easy to explore with the whole family.
Tweet, chirp, chatter, shriek, drum-drum-drum: a cacophony of bird sounds and songs will greet you upon your first step onto the oak and eucalyptus tree-lined paved path to Stanford’s Arizona Garden and Mausoleum. The Stanford campus hosts over 125 bird species, many of which can be spotted in this one small area.
Picnic at the shady Live Oak Group Area near the Anderson Lake County Park Visitor Center in Morgan Hill and get a chance to view Wood Ducks in Coyote Creek.
Disfrute de esta área de picnic con sombra en Morgan Hill y tenga la oportunidad de ver Patos Arcoiris (Wood Ducks) en Coyote Creek.
Lined with tule, cattails, willows, and cottonwoods, Parkway Lakes is a part of the Coyote Creek Parkway located in South County. You will travel south along the Coyote Creek riparian corridor looking and listening for breeding songbirds, water birds, and raptors.
Spring has sprung at Guadalupe Oak Grove Park, an urban park in the Almaden Valley area of San Jose. The grasses are green, the oak trees are leafing out and the birds are active! On this trip, learn about the native oak trees of Santa Clara Valley and observe a variety of oak tree-loving birds.
This Alviso park can be good as a quick stop or a day-long adventure, with views of all different kinds of waterfowl, marsh dwellers and shorebirds. Walk along the boardwalks to listen to the noisy song birds and rails, stand at the boat dock to scan the slough for grebes and other waterfowl, or head out to the salt pond for mesmerizing murmurations of shorebirds and an impressive number of ducks.
Oak savanna, oak-bay woodland and chaparral habitat with spectacular views, uncrowded trails, free parking and good facilities make Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve in Cupertino an ideal place for a birding or nature hike. After heavy rains in the winter a seasonal pond fills, which can bring in ducks and other wildlife.
The McClellan Groundwater Recharge Pond (also known as Bubb Road Percolation Pond) in Cupertino is a treasure of a spot in the winter months, full of migrating winter ducks that especially prefer ponds. Think Mergansers! Buffleheads! and Ring-necked Ducks!
Los estanques de recarga de agua subterránea McClellan (también conocido como el estanque de percolación de Bubb Road) en Cupertino es un tesoro en los meses de invierno, lleno de patos que emigran en invierno y que prefieren especialmente los estanques. Estamos hablando de Mergos (Mergansers), Patos Monja (Buffleheads) y Patos de Pico Anillado (Ring-necked Ducks).
The drought tolerant gardens of the Valley Water Headquarters (previously known as Santa Clara Valley Water District) off Almaden Expressway have become one of our “go to” spots when we are looking for a quiet place to bird in the Almaden Valley area. The one-mile, maintained trail through the gardens and around the large percolation pond is little used by people, has several benches along the route, and has plenty of suitable habitat for birds and other wildlife. This compact location is easy to get to making it an ideal and quick birding location.
Getting young kids excited about birding is easy, when you can show the link between normal playground/park birds and their ancient dinosaur cousins! This neighborhood park in the heart of Sunnyvale’s suburbia has everything to recommend it for a family outing to explore birding with the youngest. Just over a mile of flat, stroller-friendly sidewalks, adjacent farm fields & orchard, and two dinosaur-themed playgrounds make this destination a winner.
You wouldn’t think that sewage treatment would be a travel-worthy destination, but Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant’s large variety of waterfowl and passerines is well worth a trip. Whether you’re looking for a 100-yard stroll from the car or a 4-mile hike, this spot provides excellent views of a large variety of bird species, all in a beautiful bay-front environment.
