Canoe tours on Mono Lake are really coming to life, thanks to thousands of winged visitors on the southern shore. Whirling flocks of Wilson’s Phalaropes have arrived at Navy Beach, lighting up both lake and sky with their synchronized dancing.

The tiny visitors, weighing only 1–2 ounces, use Mono Lake every summer as a refueling station on their impressive migratory journey. Once they have had their fill of brine shrimp and alkali flies, the phalaropes will use the much needed energy boost to fly to South America where they spend the winter. These amazing little birds serve as an important (and beautiful) reminder that the impacts of a healthy Mono Lake stretch far beyond the Mono Basin.

Wilson's Phalaropes flocking along Mono Lake's north shore. Photo by Bartshe Miller.

If you’ve got a smartphone, scan this QR code to get to Mono Lake Mobile, a handy site for directions to South Tufa, Old Marina, County Park, and other useful links for your visit to the Mono Basin.

You can also see our stream of Instagram photos, which showcase our storefront remodel, views from around the Mono Basin, and recent events.

Please take a second to give us some feedback too—how well did it work for you?

For some, half the fun of hiking is the fact that you can wear your favorite worn-out T-shirt with the holes in the shoulders and those faded shorts at the bottom of the drawer. For others, there’s “Trail Chic.”

Trail chic: [treyl sheek] adjective
Fashionable while recreating outdoors; stylish: “That is a seriously trail chic outfit.“

Trail chic: [treyl sheek] noun
Style and elegance, especially in dress: “Eastside residents have such trail chic.”

Trail Chic: [treyl sheek] the event
A fashion show fundraiser for the Committee’s Bus Money Fund to help students get to Mono Lake for outdoor education programs

It’s funky, it’s fun, it’s your friends in a fashion show on a green-carpet runway that you don’t want to miss:

Friday, July 27, 2012 at 7:30pm at the Lee Vining Community Center.

Generously sponsored by Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, there will (more…)

Mono Lake and many other parks have been the source of intense effort over the past year from citizens, non-profit groups, and supporters seeking to keep them open and operating. (We’ve had success at keeping the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve open.) Now investigations into Sacramento-level financial management are turning up new information and today parks Director Ruth Coleman has resigned. More news to come no doubt. The details are in the Sacramento Bee.

Sacramento Bee: California parks director resigns amid scandal

I have a dog and a car on the brink of explosion. The combination of the two means more time spent rambling through sagebrush and walking interwoven dirt roads on the east side of Highway 395 … on foot.

Max-dog had never seen Rush Creek, which is a travesty for a Mono Lake Committee dog. We found ourselves yet again rambling via dirt road; exploring side roads and slowly making our way to the line of green willows that mark Rush Creek’s path. It took several hours to find the best swimming hole. We came upon several, but decided to keep going in search for the best. Along the way we saw (more…)

I am constantly amazed by the variety of enthusiastic Mono Lake supporters that frequent our store. Some bound up the steps, excited to see that the phalaropes have arrived and are swimming around at South Tufa. Others stop abruptly in the doorway, inhale deeply, and exclaim, “I’ve missed the smell of this store!” Of course, there is always the visitor who silently peruses the bookshelves for the latest Dave Carle novel. In my three summers in the store, I would say in general, our visitors make me smile.

Last Thursday was no exception.

A rather soft-spoken young boy walked up, and as I leaned over the counter to talk to him, I noticed he was carrying a violin case. (more…)

I didn’t mean to disturb that family of Killdeer while I was walking one afternoon near some freshwater ponds on the north side of Mono Lake, but disturb them I did. Killdeer parents get quite vocal during nesting season, and begin squawking and acting distressed if one ventures within a hundred feet or so of their nest. Some birds throw a fit from a greater distance, and since their nests are in open places but blend in with the sand and gravel so nicely, one can literally be standing two feet from the eggs and not even see them.

On this particular afternoon, both parents were together (more…)

GFAJ-1 bacteria.

Follow-up research on GFAJ-1, a Halomonas bacterium cultured from Mono Lake’s shallow marine sediments, is back in the news after two new, independent studies concluded that this strange bacterium does not incorporate arsenic into its biomolecular make-up. This new research runs counter to the claims of an original study by Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon that concluded that GFAJ-1 took up arsenic into its DNA, suggesting that the foundation of biochemistry was perhaps more flexible than was previously known. (more…)

Does water conservation help reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Authors Paul Bunje and Jonathan Parfrey argue yes in a recent article in the Daily News. A new, neighborhood-level study forecasting temperature change in Los Angeles brings the future close to home for residents and underscores how wise resource management is critical. Check it out here:

Daily News: Paul Bunje and Jonathan Parfrey: The region’s future is hot, so let’s act

An overlook of LA from the Griffith Observatory. Photo by Elin Ljung.

Last week I watched a family share a fish dinner at South Tufa. The mother pulled the flesh from the bones of the fish and then gently gave it to the babies, who not-so-gently shoved each other out of the way. When everyone had eaten, mom tried to get the babes to settle down to sleep. I couldn’t tell if a story was read or a lullaby sung, but the action stilled. When the light faded from the mountains, both parents were sitting with the sleeping young, safe in their nest on the tufa.

These fish-eaters are Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, and we are lucky to have them nesting at Mono Lake where they are easy to see. Osprey catch fish (more…)