Date of sighting: Dec. 19, 2012

Better late than never to post the results of the Dec 19th Mono Lake Christmas Bird Count.
Participants enjoyed a clear, crisp (sub-zero) morning. It was an incredibly successful count! 75 species were counted, plus an additional 4 were seen on count week – well within the top tier of Mono Lake counts (done continuously, minus one year, since 1977).

Highlights:
Waterfowl: near record numbers of not only species, but high counts of individuals for many species. 10 Duck species, including 100+ wigeon (highest count ever, by far), plus Gadwall, Pintail, Shoveler, Ring-necked, Lesser Scaup, C. Goldeneye, and Buffelhead, along with the few other usual species. Tundra swan: 34 birds counted, consisting of small numbers by several parties. Most counts we don’t have any! A Cackling Goose (small Canada) is one of only a few winter Mono Basin records.

Western Grebe – 2 different ones seen on Mono Lake, not only a high count (previously only singles occurred), but only about the 4th time they’ve been recorded on the count.

Raptors: A high count of 6 Rough-legged Hawks was pretty remarkable. And participants cleaned up on most raptor species: Coopers, Sharp-shinned, both eagles, kestrel, Prairie Falcon: almost all the expected species, and more.

Gulls: I don’t know what was happening with California Gulls, but something that’s never documented here before – large swirling flocks of them! My husband Joel estimated close to 300 very high over where we live in the north Basin – reminiscent of the springtime flocks that arrive flying over the crest of the Sierra. Looks like those birds (or smaller groups) were detected by a couple parties, making a new CBC high count. Count parties had of a conservative 175, and Joel’s group. There were also 32 Ring-billed gulls at the Rush Cr. delta – a high count.

Owls: Also incredible for numbers and diversity. Three Pygmy Owls were found – a new high count. The Counts’ second only Barn Owl was found by the north shore team, and Great-horned and Short-eared helped flesh out the diversity.

Kingfishers: Lundy had the only ones

Sapsuckers: a whopping 3 Red-breasted were found, plus a new one for count week, making a high count

Northern Shrike: Although more frequently found in past decades, since the late 1980’s or so these have been very scarce. One was photographed by Todd and Paul. It seems to be a pretty good winter for them in the eastside.

Sparrows! Sparrow diversity kicked butt, with the northshore team finding some bolded species including American Tree and Sage (3 Sage sparrows, continuing the trend of multiple individuals of rare species). Teams also found pretty much all the generally expected species to help keep species tallies high (Savannah, Song, White-crowned, etc.). Really good for a cold winter, when passerines often bolt out of the highlands!

Finches: A low year for these. The only Cassin’s was a single bird in Lundy Canyon! Most years these birds are relatively widespread, but they are irregular. Only 2 Siskins was also unusually low, so it’s not a finch year.

Count Week: Helped clean up on some misses: GB heron, Dipper, RC Kinglet, but Erica’s male Hooded Merganser was by far the best. This is only the 3rd CBC they’ve been found – although those 3 years have all been among the most recent – the species has been expanding its range in recent years and the Mono Basin has certainly been part of that.

This post was submitted by Kristie Nelson.

Date of sighting: 10/14/2012

I spotted this bird near South Tufa but couldn’t find anything on it in my bird book or in the park displays.

This post was submitted by Jon.

Date of sighting: Nov 2 – 4, more earlier

Hi,

It’s been a great fall for birds at Simis Ranch!

On Nov. 2 I caught sight of a Red-nape-type sapsucker in the old apple trees by our cabin (apparently replacing the Red-breasted which had been present the past week or 2). Although Red-napes are regular fall migrants, especially this time of year, I always check them out to make sure they’re not YB.

Well, after years of always seeing Red-naped Sapsuckers, this one actually WAS a Yellow-bellied! It is pretty hard to see all the marks that separate the 2, but finally I got to see well the complete black boarder to the red throat, that meets up to the base of the bill. Absolutely no trace of red in the nape. Very “tidy” red markings, unlike the red-nape X Red-breasted hybrids we usually have that have faded patches of red around the face/nape. This one also has extensively pale back. Managed to get a few photos with my little point and shoot camera.

This is in the north Mono Basin, 6-7 miles north of Lee Vining on Dechambeau creek. There has also been a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW present in our pig pen area. Saw it this AM, it’s been around several days. What a great fall for WTSP, as Ken Wells has found at least 2 around Mammoth.

The sapsucker was still around as of yesterday – I’ve not checked today.

On October 17 there was an EASTERN PHOEBE and a LAWRENCE’S GOLDFINCH (first saw on the 15th), both are very rare in Mono COunty (especially the phoebe). On Oct. 22, we had an AMERICAN REDSTART visit for 2 days.

Also, there was an adult male SUMMER TANAGER that arrived in early September, and remained for 3 + weeks. A lot of sightings I’ve not posted in a long time!

- Kristie

This post was submitted by Kristie Nelson.

Date of sighting: September 13, 2012

Saw 3 common nighthawks flying over Dechambeau Ranch around sunset.

This post was submitted by Doug.

Date of sighting: Monday, September 17th, 2012

This guy swung by to pick up some lunch from the shoreline and then sat not 20yds from us eating it!

This post was submitted by Timon.

Date of sighting: 9/16/12

A bald eagle flew over Lundy Lake at approximately 4:45pm. We observed this while fishing near the boat ramp.

This post was submitted by Kris King.

Date of sighting: 9/12/12

While kayaking the south end of Mono lake, Peter Leveque and I came across a small adult hooded gull that I believe to be a Sabine’s gull. We were unable to get photos or a good look at the bird in flight, but it lacked any hint of an eye ring. We last saw it near the inlet of Lee Vining Creek among a large flock of California Gulls and a few White-faced Ibis.

Also of interest, we found three Lewis’s Woodpeckers across the road from the county park feeding on apples.

This post was submitted by Ian Morrison.

Date of sighting: Last week

Hi all,

While birding around the lake shore over the last week or 2, I’ve come across several color-banded California Gulls that we (PRBO) have banded as chicks here at Mono Lake. Recently, that has included healthy, fledged juveniles from this year, like Red 405 (photo attached) I found at Sammon Springs a few days ago. I also saw Red 435 and 2 with green color bands (all this years’ crop) at County Park in late July. So fun and exciting to see the chicks we banded less than a month ago as big healthy, independent birds! It makes me really happy – and where will they be seen next, as they leave the Mono Basin with these red bands? The red coded bands allow observers to identify individual gulls by the unique alpha-numeric code they have on the band, readable with binocs or a scope.

Chirs McCreedy saw red 183 at Sammon Springs in early July – one of only about 75 we banded with red bands last year, another 1 year old Mono Lake gull was seen at Davis recently (a different one of only 75, less when you factor in annual mortality), and I saw a 2 year old (Red 063, banded in 2010) at Sammon Springs in late July. So including one of the 2009 color banded gulls we saw on the Mono Lake colony in May during nest count, observers have found 7color-banded gulls at Mono Lake from all 4 years we have color banded, just this summer! It’s a small world after all. Please keep an eye out for these guys – and report them to me or the Bird Banding Lab if you see any!

This post was submitted by Kristie Nelson.

Date of sighting: July 18 – 21

Following are some avian highlights of recent travels and my class in the Mono Basin. Black-crowned Night Heron 3, Deschambeau Pond, 2 at Lundy Canyon(first beaver pond) July 22, White-faced Ibis 9 July 20 & 21, Black-necked Stilt 1 July 21, Greater Yellowlegs 1, Marbled Godwit 1, Long-billed Curlew 4, Western Sandpiper 2, Least Sandpiper 12, Wilson’s Phalarope 2,000, all at Citadel Tufa July 21. Lewis’ Woodpecker 1 – Highway 120 Jeffrey Pines, White-headed Woodpecker 1 Mono Mills July 21, Cassin’s Vireo, an adult calling and a juvenile south of the Oh! Ridge turn off to June Lake July 21, Pinyon Jay 120 flew over Cemetery Road near the turn off to Black Point July 22. A male Pine Grosbeak was at the north end of Sotcher Lake near Devil’s Postpile July 18.

This post was submitted by David Wimpfheimer.

Date of sighting: 07/27/2012

Just had 3 BTPI’s visit my platform feeder along Reverse creek, June Lake. Skittish, but hopefully they will be back so i can snap a few shots of these beautiful birds.

This post was submitted by Jora Fogg.