The Mono Basin is a great place to explore. There are paved and unpaved roads to drive, trails to hike, volcanic features to scramble upon, shore line to visit, and scenery that is breathtaking. Do you have just a few hours to see the highlights, or perhaps a day or two?

The next time you visit the Mono Lake area, think about going someplace new. Have you been (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…)

I was lucky enough to spend the summers of 2007 and 2008 Lee Vining volunteering and interning with the Mono Lake Committee, but this summer is exceptionally memorable. During a cold and windy morning of interpretive training down at South Tufa early this summer, we were amazed to see the most foam any of us had ever witnessed at Mono Lake.

My legs covered in foam after an early summer trek along the windy South Tufa shoreline. Photo courtesy of Janet Carle.

Foam can appear on the shoreline because the lake’s unique chemical composition includes natural surfactants that reduce the surface tension necessary to hold bubbles together. In layman’s terms, Mono Lake’s soapy-feeling water acts like soap and can bubble up considerably when mixed, such as when 30-mile-an-hour gusts reach the normally calm shoreline.

For years I’ve heard of the immense flocks of phalaropes that grace Mono Lake with their synchronized flocks. This summer, our canoe and walking tours were exceptionally special because of a few thousand special guests at South Tufa and Navy Beach. For one reason or another the phalaropes picked (more…)

Six of us are packed into a small motor boat, laden with kiddie gates, cardboard boxes, and a crate of old sheets. We are reviewing the strategy of our siege as we cross to Twain Island—move quickly, stay low, don’t stop. We are preparing to band California Gull chicks in several research plots on the small islands east of Negit Island in Mono Lake, a monitoring project that started in 1983.

California Gull chicks in a banding corral with the Krakatoa Island basecamp in the background.

By capturing the chicks in small plots that are surrounded by 2-foot-high chicken wire fences, we can examine the birds and extrapolate information on their health and reproductive success. In addition, hopefully the bands we fasten to the chicks’ legs will be seen in the future, allowing us to learn more about these gulls’ migration and nesting. (more…)

Canoe tours on Mono Lake are really coming to life, thanks to thousands of winged visitors on the southern shore. Whirling flocks of Wilson’s Phalaropes have arrived at Navy Beach, lighting up both lake and sky with their synchronized dancing.

The tiny visitors, weighing only 1–2 ounces, use Mono Lake every summer as a refueling station on their impressive migratory journey. Once they have had their fill of brine shrimp and alkali flies, the phalaropes will use the much needed energy boost to fly to South America where they spend the winter. These amazing little birds serve as an important (and beautiful) reminder that the impacts of a healthy Mono Lake stretch far beyond the Mono Basin.

Wilson's Phalaropes flocking along Mono Lake's north shore. Photo by Bartshe Miller.

I have a dog and a car on the brink of explosion. The combination of the two means more time spent rambling through sagebrush and walking interwoven dirt roads on the east side of Highway 395 … on foot.

Max-dog had never seen Rush Creek, which is a travesty for a Mono Lake Committee dog. We found ourselves yet again rambling via dirt road; exploring side roads and slowly making our way to the line of green willows that mark Rush Creek’s path. It took several hours to find the best swimming hole. We came upon several, but decided to keep going in search for the best. Along the way we saw (more…)

I didn’t mean to disturb that family of Killdeer while I was walking one afternoon near some freshwater ponds on the north side of Mono Lake, but disturb them I did. Killdeer parents get quite vocal during nesting season, and begin squawking and acting distressed if one ventures within a hundred feet or so of their nest. Some birds throw a fit from a greater distance, and since their nests are in open places but blend in with the sand and gravel so nicely, one can literally be standing two feet from the eggs and not even see them.

On this particular afternoon, both parents were together (more…)

A male Violet-green Swallow. Photo courtesy of Nora Livingston.

I had no idea that nesting Violet-green Swallows would snatch feathers tossed into the air. During June, I went for a walk with Birding Intern Erica, and she suggested we pick up little feathers for the swallows to catch. I watched her hold a feather above her head, and wave it around a bit. The swallows soon came close and she let that feather go. The breeze wafted it about a bit and a fast swallow caught it with her beak. Additional feathers were tossed into the air and other female swallows caught them. (more…)

One hundred and eighty two—that’s how many pounds of sweet clover we pulled on June 22^nd with the help of volunteers from the outdoor clothing outfitter, Patagonia. The Patagonia crew came down from Reno to help the Mono Lake Committee kick-off the summer season of invasive plant removal along the Lake Trail at Old Marina.

The Patagonia crew on the Lake Trail, minus 182 pounds of the invasive plant, sweet clover. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

Although it was hot out, and the soil was compacted, everyone was eager to tackle the daunting task of removing the hardy invasive plants. Sweet clover is (more…)

Hearing rocks fall while standing at the bottom of a mountain cliff with lots of talus immediately below the cliff makes a person look up. Hearing more rocks fall thirty seconds after the first gets the adrenaline going. Falling rocks can turn into a dramatic rock slide, or they can amount to nothing much at all. When I heard the sounds of moving rocks a third time, I could tell the noises were closer to me so I pulled out my binoculars and began scanning the slope above. It was either (more…)