Naturalist Notes
A Mono Basin Chronicle
September:
A Virginia rail at county park … 30 white pelicans
seen flying above the South Tufa area … cormorants, American
avocets, and a variety of egrets also seen down on the south shore …
fall colors are on their way with streaks of yellow, orange, and red
climbing up drainages and canyons ... you can still find lupine (lupinus sp.) and Indian
paintbrush (Castilleja miniata) in bloom ... and a greater
roadrunner is surely enjoying this warm fall.
October: Eared grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes grebes cover the surface of the lake ... often joined by ruddy ducks and California gulls in winter plumage ... belted kingfishers chasing each other through the trees at the confluence of Rush and Reversed Creeks ... bats dart overhead in the cool evenings as great horned owls break the silence with their calls ... it has been quite a year for the changing of the leaves as fall colors are still going strong at the higher elevations.
November: A great blue heron often seen down on Lee Vining creek … an American dipper in a newly rewatered channel of Rush Creek … a bald eagle over frozen Ellery lake … Mono’s waters have thin shields of ice that shift, glide, and melt by the afternoon … fallen grebes stranded on land by a passing storm are rescued and returned to the saline waters … coyotes yip on the north shore in the mornings … Leonid meteor storms shower debris from comet Tempel-Tuttle over clouded skies … a gaggle of 100 snow geese seen from the shoreline but not much snow in sight.
December: The lake level has dropped noticeably and in places the shoreline is wide, mucky, and covered in balls of algae … two surf scoters at the north shore ponds … high winds bring choppy waters and briny foam in streaks across the lake surface and fluffy piles along the shore … solstice brings us the full moon in full glory … Tioga Pass re-opens for the first time in years ... and while lenticular clouds mark wind passing overhead, down below it is still warm and dry.
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