It’s strange to imagine that right now, in a typical year, the Mono Lake Committee office would be abuzz with activity in preparation for the arrival of hundreds of Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua attendees—assembling participant packets, finalizing schedules, and making the last Chautauqua buttons.
Although we won’t be able to gather in person this year, we have a few videos for you to enjoy from home. First, a short message from the Chautauqua organizers:
On Saturday, June 20, we will also be premiering two videos on Facebook and YouTube. Both videos will also be available to watch after they premiere.
• 8:00am PDT — Dawn chorus in Lee Vining Canyon (10 min)
• 8:00pm PDT — Sunset at the Mono Lake County Park boardwalk (25 min)
If you tune in on Facebook, you can also make a donation on the video post, which will go toward the Jeff Maurer Chautauqua research grant.
Despite having to cancel this year’s festival, we are proud to announce that we awarded two Chautauqua research grants this year—one to Eveline Larrucea, who will study pygmy rabbit persistence in the Mono Basin, and the second to Ryan Carle, who will study phalarope population trends in the Great Basin.
We will miss seeing you here in the Mono Basin this weekend, but we trust that we’ll be able to go birding and celebrate this place together when it is once again safe.
Top photo by Elin Ljung.