California

You'd be forgiven for overlooking Bolsa Chica, at least on first glance. Against a backdrop of nodding oil derricks, this flat expanse of wetlands doesn't exactly promise the unspoilt splendors of nature. However, more than 200 bird species aren't so aesthetically prejudiced, either making the wetlands their home throughout the year, or dropping by mid-migration.

Other than two circular embedded gun batteries (a legacy of WWII fears of Japanese invasion) this 'Little Pocket' of estuarine tidal saltwater marsh - home to loons, ducks, terns, sandpipers and rare species such as the white pelican - is largely untouched. This preservation hasn't come easily, however: decades of arm-wrestling between developers and conservationists resulted, in 1997, in the state buying up some 800 acres for the Reserve. Several companies lead tours through the wetlands, helping you spot and name the abundant birdlife.