Last weekend, the eighteenth annual Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua took flight in the basin as hundreds of birders and nature enthusiasts flocked to the area to seek out friends—both feathered and human—knowledge, and fun.
This birding festival brings birders and naturalists together to enhance appreciation and understanding of the Mono Basin’s diverse and abundant bird life and to educate the public about this area’s value to birds and people. This year’s event featured over 100 programs to fill the days, including field trips, lectures, workshops, and more.
This year’s coterie of birders and field trip leaders tallied 161 bird species in three days and a decent handful of mammals and insects as well. Yellow-breasted Chats are an unusual find in the area—a trip up to Bridgeport Reservoir detected four pairs of Chats setting up shop below the dam and along the river. Black-backed Woodpeckers colonized some recent bird areas, and they are a treat to see for many of our visitors.
Though the majority of the programs and field trips focus on avian wildlife, it’s not all about the birds! The Chautauqua celebrates many other aspects of the Mono Basin’s natural and cultural history—there are programs about geology, botany, bighorn sheep, chipmunks, bats, butterflies, mining and ranching sites, and water politics and current events, and more. There’s also an art component to the weekend, with sketching classes, demonstrations of unique forms of art like scratchboard drawing and natural material sculpture, photography workshops, field journal sessions, poetry readings, writing, and storytelling. There’s truly something for everyone.
The Chautauqua gives a boost to the Eastern Sierra economy, which is one of the goals of this eco-tourism festival. Each year’s picnic at Mono Lake County Park benefits Lee Vining High School, and this year featured the awesome funk cover band Full Blast Band, though the set was cut short by an impending summer thunderstorm. The picnic provided many laughs from the annual bird calling contest as well as excitement with the drawing of the raffle prizes, dancing to the funky jams, and birding in the park and down the boardwalk to the lake.
Most importantly, the Chautauqua supports research in the Mono Basin and each year we award the Jeff Maurer Chautauqua Research Grant in memory of biologist, birder, and educator Jeff Maurer, who died in a climbing accident in 2009. This year, $3,000 was awarded to researchers Margaret Rubega and Ryan Carle to continue surveys on Mono Lake for phalaropes in July and August. A special international meeting about phalarope conservation and research followed the Chautauqua, bringing many folks from South America and across the US to share their knowledge about this declining species.
Over 18 years the Chautauqua has become a gathering of longtime Monophiles, new birding buddies, and Eastern Sierra researchers all connecting with each other during the weekend. It’s truly the people who care about this majestic place and its feathered, furred, and fanged wildlife that really make the event special.
The Chautauqua couldn’t happen without support from our many partners. We would like to thank the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve, Bodie Foundation, Eastern Sierra Audubon Society, Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association, Eastern Sierra Land Trust, Friends of the Inyo, Inyo National Forest, Point Blue Conservation Science, Yosemite Conservancy, and Yosemite National Park for contributing time, vision, and resources to keep the event in flight. Thanks as well to our sponsors: El Mono Motel and Latte Da Cafe, Epic Cafe, Guadualito Birding Tours, Lee Vining Motel, Vortex Optics, and to all of the local businesses for accommodating our guests and leaders.
We are looking forward to many more wonderful Chautauquas; next year’s is right around the corner! The nineteenth annual Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua will be held June 19–21, 2020. Migrate on over and join us!