Observers: Chris McCreedy, Justin Hite, and Paul McFarland
Email: cmccreedyatprbodotorg
Date: 08/20/2007
Time: 04:44 PM -0400
Yesterday we wandered around the tufa city section between Black Point and Gaines Island, looking for the jaeger that Michael Lester found on 18 August. What is that place called? The shoals? The shallows? We saw ten thousand birds minus one, Mike's jaeger. I think the only passerines were Savannah Sparrows, one of them still feeding its fledges. There were hundreds of California Gulls in various stages of rattiness/molt. Eight or so Black-necked Stilts were unusual, the first I've seen in the Mono Basin since 2002, and the first I've seen in August. There were many Western and Least Sandpipers, though while we tried, we couldn't find any other Calidris species. There were half-dozen or so Marbled Godwits, and a Willet as well. It was the first Willet I've seen on Mono Lake. There were twenty to thirty White-faced Ibises, elegant and very tame, and a Snowy Egret which followed them, impressed with their class. The SNEG was the first I've seen here in five years, and the first I've seen in the Mono Basin outside of May. Here are a few photos...
