Inyo County Visitors Guide - 11th Edition

4 INYO COUNTY • 11th Edition Just like the migratory birds, the accolades just keep coming to the Owens Lake. Earlier this spring, the sprawling lake was named a prestigious Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site of international importance. The designation was a confirmation of the stunning transformation of the once dry and dusty, 100-square-mile lake south of Lone Pine into a man-made haven for all manner of birds. There are only 104 Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network sites. They stretch from the southern tip of South America to Alaska. The sites earn the designation based on the number of shorebirds they attract and the sites’ value with regard to providing critical habitat to the many species of migratory shorebirds. Some of those birds stop off at the Owens Lake to refuel while making mind-numbing, marathon migrations from South America to the Arctic. Upwards of 100,000 birds can convene on the lake at the peak of the migration seasons, according to local birders. The Shorebird Reserve Network designation was announced during the 4th annual Owens Lake Bird Festival, earlier this spring. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Inyo and attracted more than 140 birders from around the country to the Owens Lake and Lone Pine. The group reported festival goers recorded well over 100 different species of birds on the lake, ranging from falcons to ducks to swallows to avocets to grebes. The new designation does not provide any legally binding protections. The group does coordinate conservation efforts and publicity as a way to protect declining shorebird habitats before they are damaged or destroyed. The Audubon Society has also recognized the importance of Owens Lake to migrating birds and other wildlife. Those designations and recognition serve as a validation and commendation of the work done on the lake by several local conservationists, who have been documenting the lake’s bird populations for decades and advocating for the birds and the habitats that sustain them. Tom and Jo Heindel, of Big Pine, have been watching the lake and the birds since coming to the area in 1972. They are compiling a survey of every species of bird to visit Inyo County in the last 150 years. Mike Prather, of Lone Pine, got his first look at the birds on Owens Lake in 1985. Since then he has researched the bird activity on the lake and worked with all the groups involved in the lake’s revival, from the State of California to duck hunters to the Great Basin Air Pollution District to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. In recent years, the West’s saline lakes, such as Owens Lake and the Great Salt Lake, have become important destinations for migratory birds as other lakes and wetlands have disappeared. The next threatened lake, according to conservationists and the Audubon Society, is the rapidly shrinking Salton Sea. That huge inland lake has been Owens Lake Garners International Shorebird Designation Birders on Owens Lake: Birders using binoculars and long camera lenses while observing birds on the Owens Lake. Photo courtesy Mike Prather Continued on page 5