Thursday, May 2nd, 2013 by Erica, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erica, Project SpecialistName: Erica Tucker Title: Project Specialist About: Erica learned about Mono Lake Committee while attending the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. She previously taught environmental education in Yosemite National Park and worked as a manager for a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit. During the winter of 2011-2012 she took a birding-focused, 13,000-mile cross country road trip, worked as a milker on a dairy goat farm, and built an 8’ x 16’ tiny house. Erica knows all the good birding spots around Mono Lake and is happy to share them!See All Posts by Erica (13) Contact Erica
Over 80 people joined Mono Lake Committee staff and Andrea Lawrence’s family for the annual Andrea Lawrence Award Dinner, held last Friday at Parallax Restaurant on Mammoth Mountain.
Quentin Lawrence speaks at the podium (far left) at the 2013 Andrea Lawrence Award Dinner. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
It was a beautiful evening, with perfect light for viewing the newly named Mt. Andrea Lawrence. With great food, beautiful views, and inspirational speakers, the evening was (more…)
Sunday, March 24th, 2013 by Erica, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erica, Project SpecialistName: Erica Tucker Title: Project Specialist About: Erica learned about Mono Lake Committee while attending the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. She previously taught environmental education in Yosemite National Park and worked as a manager for a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit. During the winter of 2011-2012 she took a birding-focused, 13,000-mile cross country road trip, worked as a milker on a dairy goat farm, and built an 8’ x 16’ tiny house. Erica knows all the good birding spots around Mono Lake and is happy to share them!See All Posts by Erica (13) Contact Erica
Andrea Mead Lawrence.
Please join the Mono Lake Committee for this year’s Andrea Lawrence Award Dinner. The evening will feature a showing of the Committee’s award-winning film The Mono Lake Story, and Andrea’s family will speak about the naming of Mt. Andrea Lawrence. We will also present the Andrea Lawrence Award for passionate engagement in community and the land.
2013 Andrea Lawrence Award Dinner Friday, April 26, 2013 at 5:30pm Parallax Restaurant, McCoy Station, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area
You can reserve your tickets with a $65 donation. Please contact Project Specialist Erica Tucker at (760) 647-6595 x162 by Monday, April 1 to make your reservation. We hope to see you there!
Friday, February 15th, 2013 by Erica, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erica, Project SpecialistName: Erica Tucker Title: Project Specialist About: Erica learned about Mono Lake Committee while attending the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. She previously taught environmental education in Yosemite National Park and worked as a manager for a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit. During the winter of 2011-2012 she took a birding-focused, 13,000-mile cross country road trip, worked as a milker on a dairy goat farm, and built an 8’ x 16’ tiny house. Erica knows all the good birding spots around Mono Lake and is happy to share them!See All Posts by Erica (13) Contact Erica
It’s a sunny morning as I park by Old Marina and strap on my skis. Do I have my binoculars around my neck? Check. Pen and paper in pocket? Check. Dog treats for my housemate’s puppy, who is ready to go? Check. We’re off on my weekly assignment to monitor Mono Lake’s level.
Equipment for accessing the lake level gauge in winter. Photos by Erica Tucker.
This task was a quick one in the autumn—just a look at the gauge at Old Marina and then a quick drive southeast to the old DWP dock to check the second gauge. Once we got snow (more…)
Thursday, January 31st, 2013 by Erica, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erica, Project SpecialistName: Erica Tucker Title: Project Specialist About: Erica learned about Mono Lake Committee while attending the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. She previously taught environmental education in Yosemite National Park and worked as a manager for a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit. During the winter of 2011-2012 she took a birding-focused, 13,000-mile cross country road trip, worked as a milker on a dairy goat farm, and built an 8’ x 16’ tiny house. Erica knows all the good birding spots around Mono Lake and is happy to share them!See All Posts by Erica (13) Contact Erica
The Mono Basin Christmas Bird Count on December 19, 2012 recorded just a handful of Eared Grebes on Mono Lake, a shadow of the multitude that passed through during fall migration.
A view west across Mono Lake during the aerial Eared Grebe survey last October. Photo by Arya Degenhardt with aerial support provided by LightHawk.
The Mono Lake Committee coordinated the annual aerial photo survey of the grebes last October. Volunteer LightHawk pilot Geoff Pope and volunteer photographer Stephen Ingram spent a morning flying over and photographing Mono Lake’s surface (more…)
Saturday, November 3rd, 2012 by Erica, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erica, Project SpecialistName: Erica Tucker Title: Project Specialist About: Erica learned about Mono Lake Committee while attending the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. She previously taught environmental education in Yosemite National Park and worked as a manager for a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit. During the winter of 2011-2012 she took a birding-focused, 13,000-mile cross country road trip, worked as a milker on a dairy goat farm, and built an 8’ x 16’ tiny house. Erica knows all the good birding spots around Mono Lake and is happy to share them!See All Posts by Erica (13) Contact Erica
There are pumpkins and remnants of Halloween decorations in the yards of Lee Vining. Many businesses have closed for the season, but the Mono Lake Committee continues to greet people daily at our Information Center & Bookstore, which is open 9:00am–5:00pm.
November visitors seem equally interested in fall color information, weather predictions, and learning which roads (more…)
Thursday, November 1st, 2012 by Erica, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erica, Project SpecialistName: Erica Tucker Title: Project Specialist About: Erica learned about Mono Lake Committee while attending the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. She previously taught environmental education in Yosemite National Park and worked as a manager for a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit. During the winter of 2011-2012 she took a birding-focused, 13,000-mile cross country road trip, worked as a milker on a dairy goat farm, and built an 8’ x 16’ tiny house. Erica knows all the good birding spots around Mono Lake and is happy to share them!See All Posts by Erica (13) Contact Erica
Three dedicated volunteers and two Mono Lake Committee staff members helped clean the Committee’s adopted mile of Highway 395 recently. The crew met on Friday, October 26, donned fluorescent vests and leather gloves, and hit the road under sunny skies.
The Committee adopted a section of Highway 395 south of Lee Vining in 1997 and leads two to four cleanups annually. A lot more recyclable materials were found this time along with the usual assortment of things that blow out of or fall off moving vehicles. All in all, six bags of litter and one bag of recycling were gathered. It’s nice to leave the road spiffed up before the winter winds blow! A big thanks to volunteers Rich & Cathy Foye and Rebecca Watkins.
Sunday, October 21st, 2012 by Erica, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erica, Project SpecialistName: Erica Tucker Title: Project Specialist About: Erica learned about Mono Lake Committee while attending the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. She previously taught environmental education in Yosemite National Park and worked as a manager for a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit. During the winter of 2011-2012 she took a birding-focused, 13,000-mile cross country road trip, worked as a milker on a dairy goat farm, and built an 8’ x 16’ tiny house. Erica knows all the good birding spots around Mono Lake and is happy to share them!See All Posts by Erica (13) Contact Erica
On Saturday morning, October 13, a small plane flew over Mono Lake. It banked multiple times, and then flew across the lake over and over. A sightseer? No, this was scientific research in action—the annual Eared Grebe aerial photo survey!
A view over Mono Lake's eastern shore, looking southwest over the Mono Craters to the Sierra Nevada range. Photo by Arya Degenhardt with aerial support provided by LightHawk.
A bit of background: Eared Grebes nest in the northern Rockies and southern Canada, and visit Mono Lake mid-migration. While here in the fall, they undergo molt and gorge themselves on (more…)
Thursday, September 20th, 2012 by Erica, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erica, Project SpecialistName: Erica Tucker Title: Project Specialist About: Erica learned about Mono Lake Committee while attending the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. She previously taught environmental education in Yosemite National Park and worked as a manager for a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit. During the winter of 2011-2012 she took a birding-focused, 13,000-mile cross country road trip, worked as a milker on a dairy goat farm, and built an 8’ x 16’ tiny house. Erica knows all the good birding spots around Mono Lake and is happy to share them!See All Posts by Erica (13) Contact Erica
A Yellow-headed ... Blackbird! Photo courtesy of Ben Winger.
It’s a beautiful fall morning at Mono Lake County Park. I hear a Killdeer calling overhead from the cottonwood trees. No, wait—that would be a European Starling doing an excellent imitation!
I’m in my final month of leading public bird walks as the Mono Lake Committee Birding Intern. Has it really been five months since I rolled into town, nervous about whether I could sort out the sparrows from the finches, especially when in front of a group? I had a steep learning curve while leading my first-ever bird walks, and maybe I did shout out “Yellow-headed Woodpecker!” to one of my first groups as a vivid bird flew past. (“That would be Yellow-headed BLACKBIRD,” they gently corrected me). (more…)
Thursday, September 20th, 2012 by Erica, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erica, Project SpecialistName: Erica Tucker Title: Project Specialist About: Erica learned about Mono Lake Committee while attending the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. She previously taught environmental education in Yosemite National Park and worked as a manager for a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit. During the winter of 2011-2012 she took a birding-focused, 13,000-mile cross country road trip, worked as a milker on a dairy goat farm, and built an 8’ x 16’ tiny house. Erica knows all the good birding spots around Mono Lake and is happy to share them!See All Posts by Erica (13) Contact Erica
Erica and Rose at Lundy Lake Reservoir. Photo by Lynette Villagomez.
The sole of a shoe, a child’s rubber ball, and a bait container printed with the phrase “please do not litter”—what do these items have in common?
All were found and picked up by sharp-eyed Mono Lake enthusiasts during the Great Sierra River Cleanup, held on September 15. This was the (more…)
Thursday, August 2nd, 2012 by Erica, Project SpecialistcloseAuthor: Erica, Project SpecialistName: Erica Tucker Title: Project Specialist About: Erica learned about Mono Lake Committee while attending the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. She previously taught environmental education in Yosemite National Park and worked as a manager for a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit. During the winter of 2011-2012 she took a birding-focused, 13,000-mile cross country road trip, worked as a milker on a dairy goat farm, and built an 8’ x 16’ tiny house. Erica knows all the good birding spots around Mono Lake and is happy to share them!See All Posts by Erica (13) Contact Erica
Six of us are packed into a small motor boat, laden with kiddie gates, cardboard boxes, and a crate of old sheets. We are reviewing the strategy of our siege as we cross to Twain Island—move quickly, stay low, don’t stop. We are preparing to band California Gull chicks in several research plots on the small islands east of Negit Island in Mono Lake, a monitoring project that started in 1983.
California Gull chicks in a banding corral with the Krakatoa Island basecamp in the background.
By capturing the chicks in small plots that are surrounded by 2-foot-high chicken wire fences, we can examine the birds and extrapolate information on their health and reproductive success. In addition, hopefully the bands we fasten to the chicks’ legs will be seen in the future, allowing us to learn more about these gulls’ migration and nesting. (more…)
