Blue Sky Preserve 
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Please note: as of this writing (December 2007), this area is closed until further notice due to severe damage from the Witch Creek Fire. Click here for more information.
Directions: Take I-15 north to Rancho Bernardo (past Poway), and take the Rancho Bernardo Road exit. Turn right, and follow this road for about three miles, and when it veers right, watch for the parking area for Blue Sky Preserve on your left (if you reach Lake Poway you've gone too far).
This is a delightful area of chaparral, willow/sycamore riparian, and oak woodland, with a trail that is basically wide and flat (except for the initial downslope towards the creek area). The ambitious hiker can make their way all the way to Ramona Reservoir (round trip from the parking area is probably about five miles) or up a substantial switchback trail to Lake Poway, which is your only chance for Osprey, shorebirds, waders, and other water birds here, unless something happens to fly overhead (I've only managed to drag myself up there three times so far, hence the concentration of water birds for April, September, and October in the checklist). If you're really ambitious and want to make a day out of it, the trail actually encircles the lake (about a three mile loop) and brings you back to Blue Sky, but otherwise you can get a nice view of the water once you clear the dam. It takes me about four hours to bird the main trail to the end (where there's an "authorized vehicles only" sign), "Oak Grove" (a side trail to the creek about five minutes from the parking area), a peek into the chaparral along the Ramona Lake Trail, and up to the Lake Poway overlook.
Look for the usual chaparral fare along the first part of the trail, such as California Quail, Anna's and Costa's Hummingbird, Ash-throated Flycatcher (summer), Western Scrub Jay, California Thrasher (beware that because of the suburban surroundings, Northern Mockingbirds are here as well), Bewick's Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Bushtit, Wrentit, White-crowned (winter) and Rufous-crowned Sparrows, and Spotted and California Towhees. In winter look also for Fox Sparrows of both the "Slate-colored" and "Thick-billed" races. The oak woodland can have any number of riparian-related species such as Black-chinned Hummingbird, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Yellow Warbler, both Bullock's and Hooded Orioles, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Lazuli Bunting in summer; Yellow-rumped Warbler in winter (keep an eye and ear out for the occasional Myrtle); and Black Phoebe, all three goldfinches, Common Yellowthroat, and Song Sparrow year round (plus migrants in spring and fall). Oak-loving birds such as Red-shouldered Hawk, Nuttall's and Acorn Woodpeckers, Northern Flicker, Western Bluebird (more likely in winter), White-breasted Nuthatch, Phainopepla, American Robin, Hutton's Vireo, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet (winter), Oak Titmouse, and Orange-crowned Warbler, can be found as well, although some species aren't as numerous here as in the foothills. Although they only showed up one year, the habitat is marvelous for Varied Thrush, so it's worth keeping an eye out for this wintertime vagrant; the Hermit Thrush, which has a similar-sounding thook call note, is much more likely. In the open areas check the skies for raptors, swallows, swifts, and wandering water birds that may be making their way to one of the reservoirs!
Trailhead
Oak Grove area
The main trail
Trail to Ramona Reservoir
Same trail, once out of the woods and into the chaparral!
View of Poway Dam and Lake from the Ramona Lake Trail
Riparian area behind the Poway dam
Poway Lake and Dam on a foggy day
Lake Poway overlook, with Ramona Dam in the background (you can see the Ramona Lake Trail cut out of the mountain...)
Lake Poway Trail near the campground
Volunteers man a display table on the weekends while the visitor center is being built!
Personal Checklist ●=small numbers █ = large numbers (10+)
Please keep in mind that these lists are NOT comprehensive, and that some months may have had poor overall coverage. Species in red denote irruptive, vagrant, or out-of-place species and should not be expected.