This 47-acre City park is a gem in the rough that is being shined. Its ponds, formed from old gravel borrow pits, host many water birds. The ponds have permanent water, fed year-round by the A-2 Channel. Groups of cottonwoods and scattered brush harbor many songbirds. Located just outside the urban growth boundary, the Golden Gardens is surrounded by farmland on three sides. A series of unfortunate accidents spurred the community into action with a plan to make the ponds safer and more accessible for emergency response. The neighbors in Bethel helped pass a $27.5 million City Park Bond in 2006 that contained $1.75 million to improve Golden Gardens by altering the pond banks and planting native vegetation.

Golden Gardens has been underused by birders. Its location on the edge of Eugene, the planned habitat improvements, and possible acquisition of adjacent parkland indicate this site's great potential as a birding spot.

 Sightings: 

You can wander around the periphery of the ponds and obtain good views of the open water. Water birds include Great Blue and Green Herons, Cackling and Canada Geese, Mallard, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, and other ducks, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, and Ring-billed and California Gulls. Red-winged Blackbirds are numerous. Belted Kingfishers hunt for fish as do Osprey, and you may be lucky and see a Bald Eagle visiting the ponds. Bank alterations should attract more shorebirds. Adjacent wetlands host over thirteen species of dragonflies and damselflies. Western Pond and Painted Turtles live in the ponds.

The surrounding open areas attract American Kestrel, Ring-necked Pheasant, Western Meadowlark, Savannah Sparrow, and American Goldfinch. Watch overhead for Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawk. Explore the brush rows and clusters of cottonwoods for warblers and sparrows. Black-headed Grosbeak and Bullock's Oriole nest here. 

Pied-billed Grebe