This week I went back up to Lost Lake twice from Black Butte Ranch to see if I could recapture the magic Jill and I experienced there Monday afternoon on our way to c. Oregon.  During our first visit we saw swarms of warblers foraging along the upper limbs of the trees lining the n. and e. edges of the lake; and while I was off combing through the warblers looking for vagrants, Jill was enjoying very close, unobstructed views of a female AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER feeding a fledgling.  By the time I made my way back to Jill, the woodpeckers had moved elsewhere. So much for the new walkie-talkies that were sitting quietly in our car. In spite of that first missed photo opportunity, our life-photo-list was saved when we relocated the woodpeckers about an hour later just 100 yards west of where Jill first spotted them. Not the quality of photos we hoped for - but its a photo-lifer nonetheless.  

While I did not find the American Three-toed Woodpeckers on either of my two return trips to the lake, I did have the pleasure to meet Walt Wolfe, a birder from Madras, while also getting a few good looks at a number of other birds including RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, DUSKY FLYCATCHER, BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, and an OSPREY taking a fish. The difficulty of getting your camera's shutter to open at the split second before an Osprey's impact with the water cannot be overstated - in other words don't bother looking for such a photograph among the images of Osprey in this post. Maybe next time I'll get lucky. 

Lost Lake - looking west from fisherman's point:

AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER:

I waded out into the lake to get this next picture - I was amazed by this little bird's lack of concern for my approach. This was just our second observation of this species. I know - we probably need to get out more - sightings are regularly reported on various list-serves around the state. RED-NECKED PHALAROPE:

DUSKY FLYCATCHER:

BARROW'S GOLDENEYE:

OSPREY fishing - ( 8 images) - If at first you don't succeed . . . 

Hybrid - HERMIT x TOWNSEND'S WARBLER:

BREWER'S BLACKBIRD:

My first take on the small flock of 11 birds below was that they were all SPOTTED SANDPIPER - but thanks to the sharp eyes of someone who knows what they're talking about (ref. David Irons comment below), most of the birds are LEAST SANDPIPER:

This is how I normally find them - one at a time:

MALLARD:

Interactive Map - Click the "A" for directions to the lake: