Green grass with fluffy seed heads lines the shore of a lake, tufa formations are in the water offshore.

Tag: California Gulls

Mono Lake may be losing its California Gulls

Continuing DWP water diversions and decades of low lake levels causing harm For centuries California Gulls have migrated east across the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada to nest at Mono Lake. Their graceful, raucous, and quirky presence is a distinct…

Hundreds of small shorbirds bathed in golden light, in flight, on the shore, and in the water at Mono Lake in front of tufa towers.

7: The birds of Mono Lake

The Mono Basin is an oasis for hundreds of species of birds, many of which rely exclusively on alkali flies and brine shrimp for sustenance. The lake is critical habitat for California Gulls, Eared Grebes, and phalaropes. Learn more about…

Gull productivity rebounds, coyotes kept at bay

Species recovery depends on raising Mono Lake Mono Lake rose an impressive amount in 2023 and so too did the productivity of nesting California Gulls. According to the Point Blue Conservation Science report, “Population size and reproductive success of California…

A rising Mono Lake averted coyote threat to nesting gulls

As Mono Lake rose this year it submerged large sections of the exposed landbridge between Negit Island and Black Point, providing a better buffer between coyotes and thousands of nesting California Gulls. The winter brought so much precipitation, runoff ,…

California Gulls: If not Mono Lake, where?

The California Gull (Larus californicus), the iconic gull species at Mono Lake and the state bird of Utah, is in trouble. These soaring and gregarious birds have nested in large numbers for millennia at Mono and Great Salt Lake, returning…

Mono Lake is in a state of emergency

An emergency situation now exists for nesting birds and water quality at Mono Lake. The lake level has fallen a foot and a half since spring and is alarmingly low due to a legacy of Los Angeles Department of Water &…