Lake Almanor is a 4.5  hour drive from San Francisco and a 3 hour drive from Sacramento, to say it is remote is to be kind. This tucked-away lake in Plumas County is one of the four lakes included in Audubon's Western and Clark's Grebes conservation program. Plumas Audubon Society has managed and staffed grebe monitoring and research at Lake Almanor for the past four years. 

This past Friday, Audubon California's Bird Conservation Project Manager Karen Velas participated in survey alongside veteran surveyors Colin Dillingham, David Arsenault, Madelyn Ore, and Jan Martinez. It was an exciting day, in addition to seeing Western and Clark's Grebes carrying their young on their backs, several fall vagrants were recorded. Here is a quick breakdown:

26 Common Loons, more than had ever been seen on a survey before.

Herring Gulls

1 Parasitic Jaeger

1 Red-necked Grebe, 75 Clark’s, 1606 Western, 2775 Western/Clark’s (Achemopherous) and over a hundred chicks riding on backs!

To learn more about Plumas Audubon Society, please visit their website.

Photos from the day kindly provided by David Arsenault.