Starting Thursday, June 17th, we will go to our longer, summer hours: 8:00am to 9:00pm, 7 days a week! Come in to find out about good birding spots and places to visit, browse our book selection, visit the beautiful gallery, or watch the Mono Lake Story slide show.

We also have some unique new items in the Information Center & Bookstore, from organic, handmade soaps to recycled notebooks.

If you are in town for the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua this weekend, or if you are a bird lover here to do some birding on your own, come in and check out our wide selection of bird books—whether you want to identify local species or brush up on your knowledge of plumage, feeding habits, eggs and nests, or songs, we have the books to help you out!

"Lundy Canyon Fall" is one of the images on display in the Committee gallery. Photo courtesy of Robb Hirsch.

Field biologist by trade, naturalist by heart, and photographer by passion, Robb Hirsch has traveled through Africa, Central America, and the Western United States. He enjoys spending extended periods of time in the backcountry to experience the natural history of the ecosystem at hand; his photography is an extension of this love for the natural world. Scouting locations incessantly, Robb attempts to combine alluring locations and complementary illumination. His images are known for their compelling subjects, careful compositions, and fine light.

Robb’s exhibit in the Committee gallery focuses on Mono Lake, the Eastern Sierra, and Yosemite. Stop by and take a look!

Deer tracks on the Lee Vining Creek trail. Photo by Rose Wilson.

Over the last few days the Mono Basin has really shown us a full range of weather and light—deep poconip, light dustings of snow, and brilliant sunshine glinting off the lake. Each morning I wake to a new story told in the windblown snow, the story of the little, quiet animals that creep about the basin at night while most of us are sleeping. There are the rabbit tracks in the alley, scooting from their cozy snow caves in search of food. Outside my door a pair of raccoons wanders almost nightly, leaving teeny, human-like prints in the snow. Best are the bird tracks, big and small, marking where they sheltered from the wind or alighted before heading for the trees. I never see these creatures—by the time I creak open the door they are long gone, scurrying at the sound of my footsteps. But I love knowing they were there before me—the footprints of deer on the Lee Vining Creek trail or the minuscule trace of mice feet and a dragging tail on the fresh snow behind the visitor center. One thing I’ll really miss come spring is the story these wandering footprints tell.

After the noisy and somewhat unsettling winds on Sunday, it was lovely to wake up to the calm of a powdery snowstorm on Monday. By this morning, the Lee Vining Creek canyon was covered in a hushed blanket of snow. In the summer, throngs of tourists visit the creek trail, but today the only creatures disturbing the snow were deer and rabbits. The Mono Basin is beautiful in all seasons, but the snowflakes etching the tree branches and pillowing the rocks show that winter, while quiet, definitely has a majesty all its own.

Lee Vining Creek under fresh snow. Photo by Rosanne Wilson.