Early Spring at Summer Lake
Seasons collide in southeastern Oregon. When John Fremont and the rest of his topographic expedition stood high atop this landscape, they were shivering in snow on the edge of a large fault-block mountain and looking down on a sunny, verdant plain with a vast lake dazzling in the sunlight. Thus, they named the edifice upon which they stood Winter Ridge and the water below Summer Lake. A vestige of the vast Lake Chewaucan, a vast body of water that formed as the icecaps melted at the end of the Pleistocene, Summer Lake is perhaps best known today as a spot for birding. Some 250 species of birds reside here at various times of the year, migrating north and south along the flyway. March is a bit early in the season for some species, but that didn’t stop us from heading southeast from Bend to examine the territory for ourselves. It turned out to be a grand day at Summer Lake.
It was an easy drive from Bend to Summer Lake with much to admire in the way of geography. First we passed the lava flows, cinder cones, and western slopes of Newberry Volcano, the largest volcano in the Pacific Northwest. Then the route turned southeast, through forests of Ponderosa and Lodgepole Pine that eventually led to open sagebrush and marshland along the plain that once held Silver Lake. After skirting the high Egli Rim, the road hopped through Picture Rock Pass and suddenly a vast expanse sprawled out ahead. To the east, Winter Ridge arced gracefully under a blanket of snow. At its feet, Summer Lake glimmered in sunlight through broken clouds. The landscape alone had us smiling and eager to explore. If the birds weren’t there, no worries: the scenery was enough.
Turns out, the birds were there in some force. As clouds rolled in and out of the valley, we stopped time after time at the side of the road to identify some dinosaur descendants. In one tree, four juvenile Bald Eagles perched with lunch in their talons. On the lakeshore, Sandhill Cranes walked and squawked as they looked for food and kept an eye on our every movement. Song Sparrows and Red-winged Blackbirds flitted in and out of the willows, Harriers skimmed just above the ground, and Trumpeter Swans floated serenely in the shallow waters. In the end, we counted 24 species of birds:
- American Coot (Fulica americana)
- American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
- Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
- Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)
- California Gull (Larus californicus)
- Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
- Common Raven (Corvus corax)
- Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)
- European Starling (Sturnus vulagris)
- Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
- Greater White Fronted Goose (Anser albifrons)
- Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
- Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
- Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
- Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)
- Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
- Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
- Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus)
- Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
- Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
- Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis)
- Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
- Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
- Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)
Alas, we couldn’t stay with the birds forever. They won’t stay there, either, but our paths crossed briefly on a fine March day. We turned back towards Bend, leaving behind the landscape Fremont so aptly named. On the return journey, we briefly detoured over to Fort Rock, a volcanic maar that sits near an archaeological site where the oldest footwear yet found on Earth was uncovered. Indeed, we were near archaeological superlatives all day, since Summer Lake lies very near the Paisley Caves, currently the source of the oldest evidence of human inhabitation of North America. In our quest for scenic and avian beauty, we were following in a tradition of human exlporation there in southeastern Oregon that dates back roughly 15,000 years.
