Natural History Wanderings

The 2014 Owens Lake Spring Big Day will be Wednesday, April 23rd. We are looking for birders with at least some experience to help out in this intense bird census of Owens Lake. Contact Mike Prather to sign up. Small groups of citizen scientists will join with LADWP staff to spread across the lake and count EVERY BIRD WE FIND. Last April we had 115,000 birds! Owens Lake is an Audubon Important Bird Area (IBA) with tremendous importance. It hosts tens of thousands of shorebirds and waterfowl and is the largest nesting location for Snowy Plovers in California. Our data collected on Big Days is used by LADWP, State Lands, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District, and Audubon in the management and planning at Owens Lake. Your commitment to Owens Lake in real terms is invaluable.

Meet at 7:00 AM at the Diaz Lake parking lot (three miles south of Lone Pine on Highway 395). We will have a brief introduction and then get out on the lake in small groups. Car pooling is helpful, although not required. Roads are unpaved, but good. Bring a safety vest if you have one. We will provide them as well.

Dress in layers. Bring water, snacks, lunch, hat, sunscreen, dark glasses. Also bring – camera, bird book, pencils/pens, binocs and a scope if you have one.

Here are two links that might be helpful:

Good local weather site: http://www.easternsierraforecast.com/index.html
Owens Lake Dust Cam: http://www.gbuapcd.org/dustcam.htm
For more information and to sign up, contact Mike Prather at 760-876-5807 or mprather@lonepinetv.com. Be sure to look for and become a friend of Owens Lake on Facebook for updates and great photos!