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California

Owens Valley

Shorebirds gather on ponds at Owens Lake the evening before the lake-wide bird census.

Shorebirds gather on ponds at Owens Lake the evening before the lake-wide bird census.  (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Hoping to control dust, L.A.’s DWP poured ankle-deep water into a Central
California lake bed. Now tens of thousands of migrating waterfowl and shorebirds stop there.

Expert

Jon Dunn, co-author of the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, looks over Owens Lake during the bird census.  (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Taking wing

California gulls take an evening flight over Owens Lake.  (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

On the lookout

Volunteers peer though their spotting scopes during the census.  (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Stilts

Stilts glide above the water in a pond at Owens Lake.  (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Scenic

The dusk sky casts a golden glow on a pond at Owens Lake near the town of Lone Pine.  (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Lone stilt

A stilt looks for food in a shallow pond at Owens Lake.  (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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