Jill and I enjoyed a full day in the field counting shorebirds at Lake Abert in s.e. Oregon on 3 August 2013, for the first ever Oregon 2020 skein event under the expert tutelage of our group leader Randy Moore.  It was an eye-opening experience for us in many ways. The spectacle of hundreds of thousands of shore birds foraging on brine shrimp and alkali fly beneath the spectacular backdrop of Abert Rim towering more than a thousand feet above the surface of the lake was something we will never forget.  

Toward the end of our day we bumped into Trent Seager who treated us to a brief primer on the recent history of the lake and the perils facing migratory waterfowl that rely on this lake to rest and refuel on their way to their wintering grounds in Argentina.  By all accounts, if lake levels continue to decline as they have for the past 50-60 years it will not be long before higher salinities will cause a mass die-off of the brine shrimp and alkali fly which migratory birds rely on for food.  According to a presentation prepared by Trent Seager, PhD Student, and Steve Dougill, East Cascades Audubon Society, for the Lake Abert Workshop 29 April 2011, Paisley, Oregon titled Water birds of Lake Abert (this) lake supports the 2nd largest concentration of Wilson's Phalaropes in U.S.  For more information on Lake Abert please refer to Lake Abert IBA Coalition (Oregon) – Bird Surveys and Advocacy produced by the East Cascades Audubon Society.

Back to the main purpose of this website - to share our best images of birds and the areas in which we find them.  

n. end of Lake Abert at dawn:

First observed flight of Phalarope:

Followed by our first observation of a group of Avocet and Phalarope at rest:

Avocet flyby:

Jill and Randy diligently attending to the job at hand while I goof-off:

This area also supports many non-shorebird species including the Say's Phoebe;

Black-throated & Lark Sparrow; and

Rock Wren:

The s. end of Lake Abert:

Trust me when I say that you will be the first to know when I figure out how to fit 300,000 birds in a single image !

Some of the birds we photographed on our way home.

An extraordinarily vocal Swainson's Hawk (at Valley Falls):

Golden Eagle n. of Valley Falls:

Red-shouldered Hawk (near Paisley):

An event no one in their right-mind would want to miss :-)

Next up; a few fun encounters at Headquarters of the Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge

Rufous Hummingbirds at feeder:

A nice surprise visit of a female Black-chinned Hummingbird:

Wilson's Phalarope (fly-catching) - apologies for missing (the) moment:

Lastly, a few images of Summer Lake and the elusive Red-necked Phalarope - YES!

Red-necked Phalarope:

We hope you enjoyed this post.

Two interactive maps of the area are provided below.  You can get directions and change views as desired.

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A 3D view of the lake to give you a sense of the terrain.  Use the +- sign to zoom in for a closer look.

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