Wednesday, October 31 is the deadline for submissions to the 2014 Mono Lake Calendar.

Since 1986, the magnificent geological and ecological wonders of Mono Lake have been celebrated in the Mono Lake Calendar, published by the Mono Lake Committee. Sales of the calendar help to fund the efforts of our non-profit organization to protect and restore both the lake and the Mono Basin. (more…)

The October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012 water year recently came to a close. Happy new 2013 water year!

What is a water year?
It is said that hydrologists get to celebrate a new year at least four times a year—January 1st for a calendar year, April 1st for a runoff year, July 1st for a coastal California rainfall year (as well as a fiscal year), and October 1st for a water year. Needless to say, this creates challenges in organizing hydrology data.

Here in the Mono Basin, we typically use the runoff year to summarize most measurements involving stream flows, since (more…)

Have you been to Bing.com lately? Take a look at the striking photo of Mono Lake featured there! (Click on the link and scroll through the photos using the arrows at the bottom right of the screen.)

The photo shows a view from Old Marina looking northwest over the lake to Black Point and Conway Summit at a lake elevation (more…)

Thanks to recent efforts of California Trout, a video of part one of Elden Vestal’s November 3, 1993 deposition is now on YouTube. You can watch the hour and forty-seven minute video here on the Mono Basin Clearinghouse.

Watch the YouTube Video of Elden's 1993 historical testimony here!

Elden was a California Department of Fish & Game Fisheries Biologist whose deposition was instrumental (more…)

State Water Board vote to protect Mono Lake, September 28, 1994. Archive photo.

Today is September 28, a day of great significance to Mono Lake!

Check your Mono Lake Calendars … that’s right, today is the anniversary of the State Water Resources Control Board vote on Decision 1631—the decision that protected Mono Lake by ending the excessive diversion of water to Los Angeles.

It’s easy to remember where I was exactly 18 years ago today since I was the Committee’s photographer and Newsletter editor at the time. That put me in Sacramento (more…)

In early September I had the privilege of joining PRBO Conservation Science researcher Kristie Nelson and small group of volunteers in an excursion to Mono Lake’s islets for the annual California Gull mortality count (otherwise known as the “Mort Count”).

On the boat out to the Mort Count sites at Mono Lake. Photo by Max Henkels.

This was the third and final trip that the gull researchers made to the islands this summer. In July, Birding Intern Erica Tucker helped out with chick-banding in a trip she chronicled last month on the Mono-logue. My experience on the islands was much different from hers (more…)

Calling all photographers! The call for submission for the 2014 Mono Lake Calendar is here. If you are interested in submitting, click here for the submission information and read on for details. The submission deadline is Wednesday, October 31, 2012.

Since 1986, the magnificent geological and ecological wonders of Mono Lake have been celebrated in the Mono Lake Calendar, published by the Mono Lake Committee. Sales of the calendar help to fund the efforts of our non-profit organization to protect and restore both the lake and the Mono Basin.

The Mono Lake Calendar has been widely acclaimed for its artistic merit, due in large measure to the talent of the photographers whose work is (more…)

Fall is here, the days are getting shorter, and the aspens have begun to turn … with that comes shorter hours at the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore.

Don’t fret—we will still remain open seven days a week from 9:00am to 5:00pm.

Please stop by if you’re passing through Lee Vining—we’d love to see you!

The summer of 2012 was hot. But how hot? As we celebrate the Autumnal Equinox and the end of summer, let’s take a look back and see how the weather this year (so far) compared to previous years. Our focus is on temperatures—every month this year has had above-average temperatures. In October, we will summarize the meager precipitation and snowfall that fell during the dry October 1, 2011–September 30, 2012 Water Year. (more…)

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…)