Category: Natural history

Naturalist notes

Have you felt the joyful warmth of the high desert sun in early summer at Mono Lake? Imagine sitting by the lakeshore on a calm clear morning as the sun rises. You can hear California Gulls calling overhead, a Sage…

Naturalist notes

Winter in the Mono Basin has more dark hours than light, chillingly cold air, and a silence so profound it feels physical. It is either a time of rest, of moving slowly, of torpor to reduce the toll simply existing…

Fall colors along Mill Creek looking toward the east side of the Sierra Nevada.

Mono Basin fall color update

The fall colors keep getting better and better! The Tioga Pass area and Conway Summit are at their peak color now—visit in the next few days to enjoy these spectacular spots. Lundy Canyon is looking beautiful, with green leaves closer…

Ryan Garrett looking down toward Mono Lake through a spotting scope scanning for phalaropes.

Persistence, patience, and phalaropes

Relationships can be complicated. Sometimes, you fall for someone who is simply not into you. Sometimes it’s the other way around. We’ve all been there, and know that these complicated relationships are often formative and have enduring impacts. Before interning for the Mono Lake Committee, I presumed…

Wind, waves, and foam at Mono Lake

Wind, waves, and foam Have you ever visited Mono Lake on a windy evening and witnessed waves breaking on the shore? In early August, I took a walk at South Tufa during a particularly windy evening and felt almost transported…

Mono Lake water reflects the blue sky, and water it frozen in bumpy puddles on top of the tufa beach. Tufa towers loom in the background.

Mono Lake Moment: Lakeside bliss

Today’s Mono Lake Moment is a quiet, blissful, yet cold meditation by the lake. The green hue in the lake is its winter coat of algae, and the frozen areas directly in front of the camera are freshwater spring puddles—the…