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…)

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…)

Despite a windier summer than the last, canoe tours this season gave a whopping 987 people a chance to experience Mono Lake from the water. Hidden underwater tufa formations, brine shrimp clouds so thick they turned the water murky, Osprey returning to their nests with seven-inch trout in tow … these are just a few of the wonders experienced by visitors this summer.

Canoeing offers a great way to see and learn about Mono Lake. Photo by Angie Glaser.

Some paddlers looked upon the wonders of the lake with fresh eyes, experiencing all Mono Lake has to offer for (more…)

Meet at the Mono Lake Committee at 8:30am this Saturday, September 15 for the Great Sierra River Cleanup—we’ll be cleaning up the shore of Lundy Lake Reservoir! Please wear closed-toed shoes, be ready for fall weather, and bring water. We’ll provide the snacks. (more…)

Skypilot (Polemonium eximium) are found in the high Sierra above treeline, including near the summit of Mt. Dana. Photo by Nick Holt.

America’s National Parks and extensive wilderness system provides millions of acres of unspoiled lands in which we can all escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life for a day, a week, or even months at a time. Enjoying our protected public lands is not the only activity we can pursue in the great outdoors, however.

Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation is a nonprofit founded by Gregg Treinish after he was able to partake in the adventure of a lifetime—trekking 7,800 miles along the length of the Andes, worthy of 2008 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year honors—but he felt (more…)

On Wednesday, August 29th, the Mono Lake Committee hosted PRBO Conservation Science’s Eastern Sierra Project leader Ken Etzel for our last Refreshments with Refreshing ‘Ologists talk of the year. Ken came to talk to us about ongoing research in the Eastern Sierra on aspen regeneration and its effect on native bird populations. As a researcher for PRBO, Ken has partnered with (more…)

Last Wednesday afternoon brought a second hour of engaging ideas to the Mono Lake Committee’s Theater & Gallery, as US Forest Service Senior Scientist Connie Millar gave a provocative and fascinating talk on mountain ecology and climate change; a topic which she has artfully christened “Mountain Climecology.”

Connie Millar discusses mountain climecology with the group. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

The aim of her talk was to illustrate the difficult task of predicting what kinds of ecological changes might result from fluctuations in global temperature and changing climate patterns, and how accepted wisdom about the effects on plants and animals needs to be carefully tested in the field.

Dr. Millar, faced with only 45 minutes to explain and defend her argument, chose several examples from her own research on mountain ecology to illustrate her point. One example was (more…)

Have you ever visited Panum Crater in the Mono Basin? If not, you may want to take advantage of the free Panum Crater walks that are made possible by volunteers such as Rich Foye.

Volunteer Rich Foye, right, leads a Panum Crater tour. Photo by Lynette Villagomez.

Anyone who has spent an afternoon at South Tufa will be familiar with Panum Crater—the youngest volcano in the Mono Craters, which stretches to the southeast of Mono Lake and forms the base of what was once Mono’s shore. Visitors are often shocked to learn that Panum Crater is the result of a volcanic explosion that took place only six hundred years ago, rising up from the basin floor at the same moment that (more…)

For some, half the fun of hiking is the fact that you can wear your favorite worn-out T-shirt with the holes in the shoulders and those faded shorts at the bottom of the drawer. For others, there’s “Trail Chic.”

Trail chic: [treyl sheek] adjective
Fashionable while recreating outdoors; stylish: “That is a seriously trail chic outfit.“

Trail chic: [treyl sheek] noun
Style and elegance, especially in dress: “Eastside residents have such trail chic.”

Trail Chic: [treyl sheek] the event
A fashion show fundraiser for the Committee’s Bus Money Fund to help students get to Mono Lake for outdoor education programs

It’s funky, it’s fun, it’s your friends in a fashion show on a green-carpet runway that you don’t want to miss:

Friday, July 27, 2012 at 7:30pm at the Lee Vining Community Center.

Generously sponsored by Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, there will (more…)

Last week I watched a family share a fish dinner at South Tufa. The mother pulled the flesh from the bones of the fish and then gently gave it to the babies, who not-so-gently shoved each other out of the way. When everyone had eaten, mom tried to get the babes to settle down to sleep. I couldn’t tell if a story was read or a lullaby sung, but the action stilled. When the light faded from the mountains, both parents were sitting with the sleeping young, safe in their nest on the tufa.

These fish-eaters are Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, and we are lucky to have them nesting at Mono Lake where they are easy to see. Osprey catch fish (more…)