We set out along the Blitzen River, and soon we were in the vast expanse of the lake with birds EVERYWHERE! The idea of “counting” seemed comical. How do you count what must have been thousands of birds rising from the lake, circling, shifting?
These surveys correlate with spring and fall migration and are conducted in a short window of time to reduce the likely hood of double-counting shorebirds as they migrate.
Throughout eastern Oregon and the Intermountain West migrating and nesting shorebirds depend on saline and freshwater lakes, playas, and nearby wetlands for refueling during migration and for breeding. For example, Wilson’s Phalarope use saline lakes throughout the region as stopover habitat.
Interior Nesting Snowy Plovers at Malheur Written by Teresa Wicks, Portland Audubon Society Photos by Dan Streiffert, FOMR Volunteer Western Snowy Plovers are well known for their coastal nesting population.
Written by Peter Pearsall/Photo by Peter Pearsall As summer reaches its peak in the Harney Basin, the enormous shallow expanses of Malheur, Harney and Mud lakes begin their annual contraction.
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