Summer Lake

October 4, 2026October 2, 2026

Dawn on the Marsh

It seems like there are hundreds of these Passerine flitting among the branches

A glance out the office window reveals more gold than green in the aspen branches. The feeder is getting constant visits, including a couple of Gray Squirrels.

Mornings start with a hint of frost on the ground . . . October has brought Fall to the high desert.

This week we returned to Summer Lake, hoping to be there before the gate on the Link Canal dike was closed.

First light plays across the reeds and grasses

We were too late. The hunters had even started to stage their RV’s for waterfowl season.

Another aspect of the trip was to catch a sunrise, capturing that early morning light. That was a success.

At dawn there is a mist on the ponds, dramatically long shadows and a orange hue to the light. This make for some really nice photos.

The bird population is up from our last visit, even if we couldn’t get to the east side along River Ranch and Schoolhouse Lake.

However, activity really doesn’t pick up until mid-morning, so mostly we took in the landscape and spied on perching birds.

In late January or even mid-February, when the hunters have cleared out we’ll make a winter visit.

Stealthy predator using the tall grass for cover

There is plenty to keep us busy in other parts of the state through the rest of these beautiful fall days.

September 6, 2026September 9, 2026

Early Birding

The chorus of geese, heard before seen, pass over head. Their wedged flight pattern becomes a frequent sight at the end of summer.

Seasons shift and with the coming of winter migratory birds are now frequent visitors to the back yard feeding station.

We make regular trips to the wildlife refuge at Summer Lake, but always make a point of being there during this time of year.

The marshes are starting to draw passengers off the Pacific Flyway. This week was the first of those visits.

The wild fire plume had shifted to the north and east pulling smoke away from the summer lake area.

Though, when we came over Picture Rock Pass there were remnants of a recent fire.

Not huge but enough to threaten some homes on the western edge of the lake. Hot spots were still smoldering.

Marsh ponds weren’t teaming with birds, but we did see Ibis, Stilts and Dippers. Water levels are low and the refuge management has moved most of it to the south west corner.

Our standard visit is to drive in the headquarters entrance a bit south of town then follow the loop road turning north along Link Canal and exit on the north edge of the city of Summer Lake.

There was no one else around so we pulled into River Ranch camp site, found shade in a willow grove and had some lunch.

Sitting on the bank of the Ana River we were entertained by a group of Passerines hopping between branches and reeds.

In a few weeks the bird count will grow and while the week’s worth of rain, forecast, won’t make much of a dent in the water volume it will make the road a lot less dusty for our visit.

May 10, 2026May 9, 2026

Spring Birding Trip

Trying to put a name to what we just saw

Our first spring visit to Summer Lake was this week. It’s not much later than normal, but this has been anything but a typical wiinter/spring transition.

Regardless, it’s a great half-day drive.

Lord of the reeds . . . Yellow-headed Blackbird

Oregon is a premier birding state, not because of a single site, but because there is such a diversity of habitats.

Coastal rainforests, mountain meadows, and sagebrush steppe all situated on the Pacific Flyway.

How do they manage that perch? Red-winged Blackbird

Central Oregon is on the northern edge of the Great Basin and offers a number of alkali marshlands as ideal birding sites.

Most people think of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge when you mention birding the high desert. And while that’s a massive reserve, at 187,000 acres, it’s not our top pick.

Perhaps the more common song in the marshes . . . Red-winged Blackbird

The Summer Lake Refuge has about 29 thousand acres and an 8 mile loop road skirts around the central marsh ponds.

This narrow gravel track offers up excellent access to viewing areas right from one’s car.

As suspected, there wasn’t a great number of birds . . . groups of waterfowl and some shorebirds. JQ grabbed images of most of them.

It was a perfect spring day, mosquitos were at a minimum so we could enjoy a tailgate lunch and tour with the windows open.

There are bound to be a couple more trips to the Summer Lake, as well as Abert Lake and points east.

Hopefully . . . before the real heat of summer starts to bake the sagebrush steppe.

March 1, 2026April 18, 2026

Winter Refuge

The perfect spot for shore birds . . . except this day

Winter may actually come to Central Oregon in the next couple of weeks, but at the moment it feels more like spring (false spring to be honest).

With a break in the weather, we decided to take a drive over to the wildlife refuge at Summer Lake. There’s no anticipation of great birding,

It’s between migrations. However, the sun was out, the roads were dry, and we really needed a road trip.

Summer Lake, even in the winter, has some avian population. After all, there are year-round residents, just not many. The draw this time of year, well anytime of year, is the quiet solitude.

You hear wind in the reeds, water bubbling between canals and the occasional bird song. Most of the time there are no other humans around.

Hunting season is over so the loop gate is open allowing access to the eastern dike road. This narrow track, literally the width of the dike, runs between two ponds that always have at least a thin layer of water.

This is also a stretch that on most days would have a variety of shore birds; Stilts, Avocets, Dippers and the like . . . not this day.

We got the scope on a couple of hawks, Red Tails, we think. They were a distant challenge, even for the spotting scope.

There was a bevy of swans, paired up, but still too early for cygnets. There were plenty of ducks and a couple gaggles of geese.

Wildlife was keeping a distance from humans and cars. That’s fine . . . we were there to take in the day.

The telephoto lens and spotting scope offered plenty of opportunity to watch the action. It does make us more anxious for the spring migration to start.

We definitely will be back . . . Summer Lake is our refuge as well.

September 28, 2025September 27, 2025

Shifting to Fall

A Blackbird perches effortlessly on bare tree branches

It’s Fall. The equinox was this week and the weather has cooled. Just yesterday we had our first frost.

It’s not snowing, yet . . .

Mornings are still mild and we continue to have warm days ahead, but still, . . . it’s feels like Fall.

The trees around our house fill with a different species of songbird nearly every week. A gang of Jays has been stalking the area and V’s of Canada Geese honk their arrival overhead.

Before duck season fills the parking sites with RV’s, and chains close off loop roads, we like to make a seasonal visit to Summer Lake.

It’s just an hour’s drive, so if there’s no activity, we’re not giving up much of the day. That was not the case this day.

The refuge was filled with activity and a wide variety of birds.

Year around there’s a least one Squadron of Pelicans, a Great Blue Heron, some raptors, and a smattering of the hardier song birds to populate the marshes of Summer Lake.

Then, a couple of times a year, seasonal migrations bump those numbers and bring in a lot of different species. These are ideal times to visit.

Before we even got to the refuge, there were a couple of Sand Hill Cranes resting in a field along the road. We spotted a few more pairs at various points during our regular loop drive.

A pod of pelicans float by a Great Blue Heron

In managing the refuge there is a seasonal shifting to water levels in the various ponds. In the fall it seems the ODFW attempt to give hunters some easy access points, but also offer more protected spaces.

On this trip the pond on the west side of the dike loop road had just a thin layer of water. This seemed to be just what the shore birds wanted. The place was filled with a huge variety.

Refuge managment means shifting water levels

Once again we enjoyed the space without any other people. This makes it easy to stop on some of the narrow roads to get a photo or put the binoculars on an unfamiliar group of visitors.

We’ll be back, of course, but not before winter takes hold and then it will be a very different landscape . . . beautiful in a different way.