It was very cold in the Klamath Basin yesterday. 7-degrees when we arrived, even in the sunny afternoon the temp never rose to freezing. A scarce resource was open water. One small ditch with water being pumped through it held 2 Wilson’s Snipe, a Kingfisher and a Great Egret. All were focused on this single, precious winter resource. Most large bodies of water were covered with thick ice. At the south end of Tule Lake was one small patch of open water.
This two eagles are standing guard over the dense gathering of potentisal meals. A sick bird, a broken wing, a bad landing by a five pound goose–instant meal.
look closely, there is a male Shoveler right in the middle of the open water. One of seven species of ducks concentrated in this single bit of open water, surrounded by snow-covered ice.
One other larger area of open water can always be found at either end of the Link River running down from Klamath Lake to Lake Euwanna. Here’s a couple of Barrow’s Goldeneyes at the upper end of the Link. That’s around Putnam’s Point in Klamath Falls.
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