This post was written by Ryan Price, 2013 Birding Intern.
September 14–15, Richard Potashin and Nancy Hadlock will lead a field seminar on the history, culture, and solitary lifestyle of the Basque sheepherder and the natural history of aspen trees.
They will take participants to local aspen groves to compare the design, artistic intent, and cultural content of aspen carvings, or arborglyphs. Leaders Richard and Nancy have studied Basque culture and Eastern Sierra natural history for many years and have the largest Basque resource library in the Eastern Sierra!
The itinerary is to meet at the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore Saturday, September 14 at 8:30am and then to head out into the field from there to the aspen groves. At 6:30pm on Saturday there will be a Basque happy hour and light meal (optional; outside of the field seminar itinerary) with a Basque bota competition, storytelling, music, and an aspenglyph slide show. On Sunday, the group will meet at the Mono Lake Committee and spend another day outside in the aspens.
To learn more about this and other seminars, check out the field seminar web page.