The annual California Gull research reports for 2004 and 2005. In 2005, 21,941 nests were counted, with an average fledging rate of 1 chick per nest. The number of nests on Negit Island dropped 51%, ending the steady increase since the 1999 recolonization.

Marcus Bursik sent us three of his papers, and mentioned he is working on a Geologic Map of Paoha Island that will be published by USGS. The papers are (abstracts online free; full text for fee):
1. Lahar in Glass Creek and Owens River during the Inyo eruption, Mono-Inyo Craters (2004)
2. Late Pleistocene Glaciation of Mono Basin, California (1993)
3. A volcanotectonic cascade: Activation of range front faulting and eruptions by dike intrusion, Mono Basin-Long Valley Caldera, California (2003)

This 1878 document focuses on the mining districts, however it does mention Mono Basin activities such as timber harvest and agriculture. It was donated by Mark Davis' Eastern Sierra Historical Archive Project to 16 museums, libraries, and historical societies around the region. This 66-page 62.5 MB PDF file was provided on CD with each copy. At some point in the future we may use OCR software to make the text searchable and reduce the large size of the file.

Dr. Jack Farmer and Mike Thomas from Arizona State University have made some interesting observations thus far regarding tufa formation and microbiology, including some observations of seasonal ikaite precipitation along the shoreline. This listing includes only a link to ASU's Webpage.

PRBO's Eastern Sierra Projects has fledged from the Mono Basin Clearinghouse and made a nest of its own on the World Wide Web! We provided a home page and space to post reports in the initial years, and following the same pattern as the Mono Lake Microbial Observatory, we now just link to their home page, where they are in control of the content. Their new home page looks great! You'll notice that we still host a few of their reports and studies on the Clearinghouse, when their links head back our way.

January precip was equal to last year, which was the wettest since 1997. February and March were almost as wet as last year. February had the warmest high temp and the highest wind gust since 2002. March was one of the coldest ever, and had the highest average windspeed since 2002. The October-March 2005-6 period was slightly wetter than the previous winter, making it the 3rd wettest winter since 1989 (1995 and 1997 were wetter). April, when less than half over, was already the wettest April on record.

Now updated for the April-October Runoff Season and the April 2006-March 2007 Runoff Year. Minimum flows and required peak flows reflect best estimates of runoff conditions as of the 130% of average April 1st forecast and will be updated after the May 1st forecast is issued. The May 1st forecast is likely to exceed 150% of average, making 2006 a Wet or Extreme-Wet year.

Downloadable MS Excel file containing data for Mono Lake Christmas Bird Counts since 2000. This data for recent years complements the data since 1977 also downloadable from this Website. 4429 individuals were seen in 2005, the largest number since 1992!

There are a few minor changes to the GIS page this quarter. ESLIN has changed its name to the Eastern Sierra GIS Network (ESGN). The California Spatial Information Library has been added, along with the CERES Geofinder and the California Digital Conservation Atlas listed under it.

New links:
1. California Partners in Flight Bird Conservation Plans (Coniferous Forest Bird Conservation Plan, Draft Desert Bird Conservation Plan, Riparian Bird Conservation Plan, Sagebrush Bird Conservation Plan, Sierra Nevada Bird Conservation Plan)
2. Wieslander Vegetation Type Maps & Photographs. Includes 1930s Maps and photos of the Mono Basin area in quads 71, 75, 76. Searchable by vegetation type, quad, and keywords. Topo maps are generally pre-water development. This link is also included on our historical resources page.
3. Alpine Microbial Observatory in Colorado.