"While the avocets sweep, the long-billed dowitchers perforate the mud. A flock of more than 200, sectioned into groups of a several dozen, probe incessantly. They methodically cover all the unflooded surfaces—perhaps 15 percent of the open area. Shoulder-high stalks of buckwheat arch over the surrounding peat. The generous number of birds currently here (at least 450) is a reflection of this half-acre pond's "well-stocked larder". In the weeks to come the buckwheat’s long, nodding flower-heads will produce a huge bounty of seeds favored by migrating songbirds and water birds, some of which will spend the winter here."

Excerpted from Jerry Busch’s essays on the Watsonville Slough System, found in the book Watching the Watsonville Wetlands.