Date of sighting: July 15, 2012

Yesterday my Point Reyes Field Institute class and I observed a BLACK PHOEBE near the old house at Cain Ranch. This site is north of the June Lake loop. We also saw a juvenile RED-SHOULDERED HAWK here. I believe both of these species are fairly uncommon in the Mono Basin. On July 14 there were about 5,000 WILSON’S PHALAROPES feeding and flying in large groups at the end of the County Park boardwalk.

This post was submitted by David Wimpfheimer.

Date of sighting: 7/4/2012

2nd attempt-

This post was submitted by Marc Picard.

Date of sighting: 7/4/2012

Saw this juvenile near the beaver dams above Dynamo Pond on Green Greek. Anybody have an ID?

Thanks

This post was submitted by Marc Picard.

Date of sighting: this spring

Hi,

An update on a few things: the PRBO nest count crew recently finished our annual count of California Gulls at the Mono Lake colony. Over 3 days we tallied 20,056 nests. Despite the early spring and good numbers of shrimp in the lake, this total is still below the long-term average (about 23,000+). However, it is much better than last year (a dismal 16,700) and the year before. Hopefully with a good shrimp populaiton nesting success will be good, but we’ll have to wait until July to see how that turns out.

I’ve found a number of banded/tagged birds. First, AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS: back on May 12 birding crowley I saw 2 with wing tags, which I’d never noticed on pelicans before, possibly from not looking at them closely enough. Although both in a small group here at Crowley lake, one was from southcentral IDAHO, the other from northern OREGON on the coast by the OR/WA line. Pretty neat! Both were yearlings.

There have also been a couple gull bands: one at the June Lake Marina fish cleaning station was banded, but was so accustomed to people I could easily read the number with binoculars: it was banded as a chick on Mono lake in 2004.

We found a dead adult on Twain Island of Mono Lake while nest counting: It had a band, and was banded at Mono as a chick in 1994, so was 18 years old when it died.

This post was submitted by Kristie Nelson.

Date of sighting: 2 june 2012

Hi,

This AM about 9 I had a singing PROTHONOTARY WARBLER below the Tioga Lodge by Mono Lake. It was above the creek (downstream or east of the lodge) in thick willows right where the last elm trees were. It sings “Sweet, sweet, sweet” more or less one pitch, fairly evenly spaced. It had golden yellow head/beast offsetting a beady black eye and shiny black bill. lower belly/UTC white, the tail is white below with a thick black tip. Lime colored mantle, gray lower back and wings. Gorgeous. Bartshe showed up by bike about 930. It sang a few more times, then shut up for a bit, and he had to get to work.
There was also a HOODED ORIOLE male, and that thicket is just screaming for a Wood Thrush or something. Also a WESTERN FLYCATCHER singing the “Male position note” like a Pac-Slope, so probably on the PSFL side of things.

Hear from Sally Miller she had an INDIGO BUNTING in “warbler thicket” which is nearby on the west side of 395. It could be the same one as last year. It’s been a good spring – stuff is out there waiting to be found!!

This post was submitted by Kristie Nelson.

Date of sighting: 21 May 2012

Five Eared Grebes were seen off Navy Beach Monday afternoon swimming together in a small raft. Several others too far out to be identified for sure, but of the same size and silhouette were also seen. While watching them an Osprey flew over. At least two more were sitting on nests on Tufa out in the lake.

This post was submitted by Karen and Fred Valentine.

On Friday, May 11, I saw a Green Heron on Rush Creek by the Clover Ranch. It was also spotted at the County Park that morning by S. Miller.

Date of sighting: 11 April 2012

Hi,
Yesterday along with the snow flurries were the first of spring Hammond’s Flycatcher and Ash-throated Flycatcher! Both are a month+ earlier than usual. Gray Flycatchers are typically (almost always) the first empidonax flycatchers to arrive in the Mono Basin, so I was blown away to see a Hammond’s first. Ash-throated FC’s are rare Mono Basin migrants anyway, and this one was exceptionally early (seen by Joel yesterday).

This post was submitted by Kristie Nelson.

Date of sighting: March 7, 2012

As I hiked up the Parker Bench trail from the Rush Creek Trailhead yesterday (Wednesday), I was swarmed by a small flock of GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCHES. On my way back down, I witnessed a colossal cloud of Rosy-finches. I estimated 500-600. They just poured over the ridge twittering and bouncing in the air. It was amazing.

Also on Wednesday, I went down to County Park and the pair of TRUMPETER SWANS was still there, milling about with the CANADA GEESE.

This post was submitted by Nora.

Date of sighting: 9 Feb 2012

Hi,

Today I came across a pair of adult TRUMPETER SWANS at Mono Lake near the end of the boardwalk at Mono Lake COunty Park. It was such I nice warm day, I walked there from our cabin at Simis Ranch, I only had my binocs. Nearing the end of the boardwalk, the 2 swans stood up, one vocalized a couple times, sounding like a Canada Goose that had opera training. They started swimming out from shore, I quickly stepped back to keep from scaring them. I could see their black eyes were totally enclosed within the black “flesh” of the bill, and they had the red flash along the gape – Trumps!

Having trouble uploading photos, but I did get some.

I’d reccomend checking them out from the pullouts on Cemetary Rd (walk closer) since they swim away seeing folks coming down the boardwalk. Or creep and hide….

I came back later with a scope to get better views before reporting. I’m quite sure I spotted these 2 last Tuesday 1/31 while driving 395. There were 2 swans swimming in the same place. I pulled over and saw them from a pull out on 395 – way to far to tell they were trumps, but in retrospect, I bet they were these 2.

This post was submitted by Kristie Nelson.