Bird counts have been taking place over the past several months, including this last weekend, with hundreds of species categorized and thousands seen.

One primary attraction to local animal life is the Pacific Flyway Pond, a reclaimed Woodland-owned property that now serves as habitat for not just birds but wide range of animal life.

Reported in the city’s recently released Community Development Semiannual Report, the pond serves as both a storm water treatment facility and a resting area for migratory birds.

The project is largely funded through a Wildlife Conservation Board grant and is a collaborative effort between Woodland, Yolo County Resource Conservation District, UC Davis and the Yolo Bird Alliance.

Located southeast of Woodland, the pond was used for decades as part of the wastewater treatment process where “sludge” was stabilized and later removed. But the facility was abandoned beginning in 1989 and remained unused until 2010.

In early 2010, a project removed the accumulated organic material from the pond and stockpiled it in the southeast corner, according to the report. In 2019, the site was converted to become a regional stormwater detention facility, the purpose of which was to reduce peak storm drainage flows and improve stormwater quality.

Landscaping work wasn’t included initially along the southern edge of the pond as a result nearly two miles of pond suffered “significant erosion” damage.

Work began several years ago on a new approach called “engineering with nature” that included landscaping and wetland vegetation. It was completed in the fall of 2024 although the Resource Conservation District is still planting vegetation around the pond’s perimeter.

Future planting will be coordinated with the Student Landowner Education & Watershed Stewardship Program through the Center for Land-Based Learning, Woodland Tree Foundation and Yolo Bird Alliance, according to the city’s report.

But the results are already apparent.

More than 1,000 endangered tri-colored blackbirds were counted in 2024 and the pond has “been documented as hosting several thousand migratory birds during their migration season and over 50 species daily, along with otters and the endangered western pond turtle.

In late December, as part of the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count, there were 139 species seen throughout Yolo County, compared to 135 in 2023 with many of those birds sighted Pacific Flyway Pond.

In that survey, the highest count was European Starlings. There were estimated to be over 20,000 starlings, compared with between 2000 and 3000 the past couple of years.

The past two years’ counts were dominated by Snow Geese, with around 12,000 each year, but only 363 in 2024. Greater White-fronted Geese were also down in 2024 at 850 compared to 4,674 in 2023. These fluctuations were likely due to where current wetland and feeding fields are located, according to local birders.

The Great Backyard Bird Count was held this past weekend but results were still being tabulated.

However, both the Christmas Bird Count and Community Development Department report also found “at least six endangered Burrowing Owls are living at the pond this winter.”

That compares to one seen in 2023.

The appearance of the owls is important as Yolo County at one time had a population in the southeastern portion of County Road 102. Loss of habitat, however, has led to a loss of the owls.

If the owls are returning that means the area is becoming friendlier to wildlife of all types.

In a Dec. 16, 2024, San Jose Mercury-News story by Mark Degraff, a population of burrowing owls was discovered near the sewage plant that treats San Jose’s wastewater at the southeast tip of the San Francisco Bay.

The property is “sandwiched between office buildings and the sewage plant,” and is roughly 200 acres, which is home “to some of the last burrowing owls in the Bay Area.”

In October 2024, the state designated the owls as a candidate for protection under the California Endangered Species Act.

While burrowing owls are disappearing throughout the state, a collaboration between biologists and the city of San Jose has helped them “maintain a talon hold on this spot,” according to Degraff. “The scientists are now working to protect the few that remain in the Bay Area and reintroduce them to better habitats farther south. It is part of an effort led by the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency that seeks to bring the birds back from the brink.”

Surveys done in 2012 found only two burrowing owls. In 2024, there were 11 breeding pairs counted.

According to the nonprofit San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, ground squirrel eradication is one reason for the decline of Burrowing Owls. Ground squirrels dig holes that burrowing owls appropriate. The owls cannot build their own homes.

“Ground squirrels have been considered a pest species for a hundred years and have been poisoned, shot and gassed,” said Sandra Menzel, director-at-large of Talon Ecological, a conservation nonprofit. “But the burrowing owl needs ground squirrels to survive.”