The Buena Vista Lagoon Ecological Reserve is 206 acres of coastal freshwater lagoon habitat. Flora includes widgeon grass, pondweed, and arrow grass. Birds include cormorants, grebes, passerine birds, terns, ducks, and geese. Mammals include raccoon, skunk, and opossum, as well as vole and western harvest mouse.
In 1939, a county ordinance was approved that prohibits the discharge of firearms within the areas adjacent to the lagoon. This in effect made the lagoon a bird sanctuary. Buena Vista Lagoon was acquired to preserve, protect and maintain coastal wetland habitat and associated wildlife species. The property was designated as an ecological reserve by the Fish and Game Commission in 1968.
For more information, call the South Coast Region San Diego office at (858) 467-4201.