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City of Watsonville Slough Trails |
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The sloughs just upstream of Hwy 1 in the city of Watsonville have been hemmed in by recent urban development, but a network of trails along Struve and Watsonville sloughs offers opportunities to bird extensive areas of seasonally flooded marsh and adjacent upland slopes. The trail plan calls for three main interconnecting trails with numerous access points, but it has so far been only partly constructed. Birding opportunities presently occur at Struve Slough along parts of the Ohlone Loop Trail (south of Main St), and at the Upper Slough Trail (north of Main St). Winter and spring are the best times to bird here. Access to the Ohlone Slough Trail is at the junction of Harkins Slough Rd and Ohlone Parkway, and farther south along Ohlone Parkway ***. This trail provides views of a productive part of the slough that has many of the ducks, other marsh birds, raptors and sparrows described in the account of the sloughs west of Hwy 1, above. This is a good area for Blue-winged Teal, Hooded Merganser, American Bittern and Great-tailed Grackle. Access to the Upper Slough Trail is at Hope Drive, Montebello Road, and ***. Look here for the bittern, many swallows, and sparrows.
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