Existing comment:
California Gulls:
Life on the Inland Sea:
In the spring and summer, clouds of California gulls float over Mono Lake. Up to 60,000 gulls, 80 percent of the state's population, return to Mono each year to nest and to raise their young. Negit Island once provided the primary nesting habitat. By 1979, when stream diversions had lowered the lake level dramatically, a land bridge formed between the mainland and the island, giving predators access to the rookery. This forced the guns to abandon the island and to crowd into smaller islets. Rising lake levels restored the island's protection, but the gulls have been slow to re-colonize. Ask a ranger how nesting is progressing on Negit Island today.
California gull parents take turns foraging all day long. They return often to regurgitate huge numbers of brine shrimp and alkali flies into the mouths of their rapidly growing young. From July through September, watch for the grayish-brown immature gulls. By late fall, the gulls will leave to spend winter along the coast. |