[obol] Lake County and Oregon2020

From: Oregon 2020 <oregon2021@xxxxxxxxx>
To: OBOL <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2013 16:24:25 -0700
Our Oregon2020 team and several keen observers counted birds in Lake County 
last weekend, 3-4 August 2013.

We had a fairly small group of 10 of us (see below), but we all enjoyed the 
amazing spectacle of waterbirds stopping over at Lake Abert during their fall 
migration.

Altogether, we found 174 species and contributed 163 checklists to eBird. Our 
efforts focused on counting large numbers of birds, so had longer stationary 
counts than we typically have in other situations. 

Numbers of Wilson's Phalaropes at Lake Abert were truly impressive. It's an 
unbelievable experience to look out across that huge lake and see it covered 
with phalaropes as far as you can see in any direction. It's especially 
memorable in the beautiful morning light as the sun begins to shine down over 
the cliffs of the giant fault block to the east. It seems like you can reach 
out and touch birds sitting on the water nearly 2 miles away! Then, you turn 
back to admire the cliffs and realize there are Golden Eagles perched regally 
2,000 feet up on the bluff tops surveying their kingdom in the morning light. 
Just over their heads White-throated Swifts flash by. Much closer, Canyon and 
Rock Wrens chide us for standing too long in one place while families of 
Black-throated Sparrows pose for photos.

We estimated the following numbers of birds at Lake Abert, from 5-6 hours of 
counting by multiple observers working together each day. It's pretty clear 
that a migratory movement happened Friday evening as Wilson's Phalaropes moved 
in, Red-necked Phalaropes, American Avocets, and Eared Grebes moved out.

Wilson's Phalaropes:

Friday (in the afternoon when conditions are tough): 192,000 (which compares 
favorably with Trent Seager's estimates from earlier that day of about 198,000).
Saturday: 317,000
Sunday:  312,000

According to Trent, this may be the highest numbers of these birds at Lake 
Abert in quite a long time.

Relatively few Red-necked Phalaropes were present:

Friday: 2000
Saturday: 9
Sunday: 9

Eared Grebes:

Friday: 13,450
Saturday: 1,640
Sunday: 1,220

American Avocet:
Friday: 9,270
Saturday: 2,510
Sunday: 2,027

Truly amazing to see these kinds of numbers of birds!

Other interesting birds during the trip included:

Bobolink at Hart Lake
Common Tern at Summer Lake
4 species of hummingbirds at Summer Lake (Black-chinned, Calliope, Anna's and 
Rufous)
At least 5 different Red-shouldered Hawks
9 Marbled Godwits at Summer Lake on Saturday
7 Snowy Plovers at Summer Lake and a few at the far north end of Lake Abert
Small numbers of Franklin's Gull and Bonaparte's at Summer and Abert Lakes


Hendrik Herlyn and Oscar Harper already reported some of the woodland birds 
they found in the Warner Mountains, including Sooty Grouse and Juniper 
Titmouse. Super nice of those guys to count birds and share their data while 
they were camping and fishing!

Many, many thanks to old friends and the new ones we made for their help:

Mark Baldwin
Jenna Curtis
Tyler Hallman
Oscar Harper
Hendrik Herlyn
Spencer Mair
Randy Moore
Doug Robinson
Jack Williamson
Jill Williamson

Come join us next time for all the fun!

Your Oregon2020 team
Doug, Jenna, and Tyler













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