The images were taken in Keeler. Keeler is on the eastern shore of Owens Lake in Inyo County, California. Once a mining town, the town was deserted after water exports began from the lake for Los Angeles. Eventually, the lake dried up, causing noxious alkali dust storms to blow through Keeler, driving residents away. While most of the people have gone, the birds remain. The lake was a very important feeding and resting stop for millions of waterfowl each year. Even though it is now mostly dry, at the shore, a chain of wetlands keep part of the ecosystem alive. There is hope that an expanded shallow flooding program could do even more.
