Believe it or not, fall migration lasts for almost half a year! The first southbound migrants are usually female Wilsons Phalaropes who return by mid June after laying the eggs in a nest and placing responsibilities on the males. This year the ladies were spinning...
Those of us who live in the Eastern Sierra are fortunate that we are relatively close to the largest National Park in the contiguous United States. Death Valley National Park offers great opportunities to explore a myriad of habitats that begin with desert scrub below...
On Saturday, 10 May 2003, a group of birders celebrated International Migratory Bird Day by vacuuming the County to find as many bird species as they could. However, what lead up to this particular IMBD has a little history that should be shared. In 2000 an amazing...
Just after the beginning of the last century, water was taken from the Owens River south of Tinemaha Reservoir and channeled into the aqueduct for transport to Los Angeles. For all practical purposes this destroyed the thriving riparian habitat that had existed for...
As happens every season, some birds arrive exactly as expected and, happily, some very unexpected birds arrive to add warmth and excitement to our cool months. The only Pacific Loon of the fall was at Owens Lake 22 Oct while Common Loon was scarce although one at...
Do you have a favorite bird? Countless times that question has been posed to birders, usually by non-birders or relative newcomers to birdwatching. This innocuous inquiry is an almost impossible question to answer. The more one learns about any species the more...
The Bells Vireo, the smallest vireo found in Inyo County, usually returns in late March with an outlier arriving 17 Mar. Each year we wonder if any will return to spend spring and summer with us before retreating to a warmer and more hospitable climate in Mexico in...
It seems that each fall report starts by stating that some spectacular birds were seen and this recent fall is no exception. The fall season for birds extends primarily from August through November when most of the birds are heading south but a few begin in Jun (e.g....
The energy output required of birds to molt, migrate and mate is so great that these events usually do not occur simultaneously. A bird’s year is spent balancing the energy needs so that these events do not interfere with each other. It is no surprise that birds...
This years IMBD was the best ever regardless of which indicators are used. From dawn until dusk thirty-eight observers (a record) covered the Owens Valley, White & Inyo mountains, eastern Sierra canyons, Deep Springs and Death Valley (record coverage) looking and...
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