Sierra Wings
Birds of the Mono Lake Basin
Published on 9. October 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
124 pages
978-0-944197-00-4 (ISBN)
Description
Mono Lake, one of the most important lakes for wildlife in North America, offers a vast food resource for breeding gulls and other birds in summer and an essential refueling stop for countless migrating shorebirds and grebes in autumn. Join veteran bird photographer Marie Read as she follows Mono Basin's birds in the wild through her camera lens, revealing their behaviors and fascinating lives. David W. Winkler, ornithologist and cofounder of the Mono Lake Committee, invites us in his Introduction to Sierra Wings: Birds of the Mono Lake Basin to come wander this magical land.
Located in California's spectacular Eastern Sierra, Mono Lake is an oasis in the dry Great Basin and a vital stop on the Pacific Flyway providing habitat for millions of migratory and nesting birds. By midsummer abundant alkali flies and brine shrimp provide an endless food supply while stream delta and near-shore wetland habitat also provide good bird habitat. Mono Lake is a small, integral part of the big migration picture. Because large numbers of phalaropes, gulls, and grebes depend on the lake, along with approximately 100 species of other birds, Mono Lake was designated as a part of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN).
This supplement to a standard field identification guide includes: 194 color photographs, Full color map with 13 birding hotspots, Index, tips for photographing birds, profile of each habitat with account of predominate species and others likely to be found there, and Foreword by Geoffrey McQuilkin, Executive Director Mono Lake Committee
Located in California's spectacular Eastern Sierra, Mono Lake is an oasis in the dry Great Basin and a vital stop on the Pacific Flyway providing habitat for millions of migratory and nesting birds. By midsummer abundant alkali flies and brine shrimp provide an endless food supply while stream delta and near-shore wetland habitat also provide good bird habitat. Mono Lake is a small, integral part of the big migration picture. Because large numbers of phalaropes, gulls, and grebes depend on the lake, along with approximately 100 species of other birds, Mono Lake was designated as a part of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN).
This supplement to a standard field identification guide includes: 194 color photographs, Full color map with 13 birding hotspots, Index, tips for photographing birds, profile of each habitat with account of predominate species and others likely to be found there, and Foreword by Geoffrey McQuilkin, Executive Director Mono Lake Committee
Reviews / Votes
"If traveling through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, outside of Yosemite National Park, but before the Nevada border take the time to visit the Mono Lake Basin. There is a unique landscape which is home to highlands and lowland flats where an array of wildlife with wings make their home.An in depth companion to a standard field guide, Sierra Wings: Birds of the Mono Lake Basin beautifully showcases detailed sections of land, the natural growth and the winged inhabitants of this specific area. Wildlife photographer Marie Read captures stunning pictures with vibrant arrays of color, images of birds hidden under foliage and scenery unappreciated by the visitor without a telephoto lens. Accompanying the pictures which are so captivating they are art alone, are wonderful essays describing the scenes and fowl by David W. Winkler and Justin Hite. By the time a reader (or viewer) completes this book, a trip will be dreamed of and a desire to travel to this breathtaking location within California would be on the top of any to do list. Capturing not only the dense forest, variations of foliage, but the landscape which looks like it was hand carved is awesome to view. Nearly a hundred different species of birds are captured in multiple angles, seasons and behaviors, making this a captivating book for the avid bird watcher or nature enthusiast." --San Diego Book Review
More details
Series
Edition
Illustrated edition
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
West Margin Press
Edition type
Illustrated edition
Product notice
With flaps
Illustrations
1 Maps; 1 Illustrations, color
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 229 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-944197-00-4 (9780944197004)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Wildlife photographer Marie Read first visited the Mono Basin in 2001 and promptly fell in love with the area's birdlife and scenery. In 2010 she began work on Sierra Wings, a multi-year photographic project to document some of the Mono Basin's best-known birds and their lives. Marie started wildlife photography in the 1980s while studying bird social behavior in East Africa, and shortly thereafter made wildlife photography and nature writing her life's goal. Since then her images and articles about birds and their behavior have been featured in numerous magazines, including on many covers, as well as in books, calendars and other products. She is the author of two previous books: Secret Lives of Common Birds: Enjoying Bird Behavior Through the Seasons (2005) and Common Birds & Their Songs (1998, coauthored with Lang Elliott). David Winkler spent his teenage and early undergraduate years chasing birds across California with Rich Stallcup and many other fine field observers. As an undergrad at UC Davis, he co-led a student research group doing the first comprehensive study of the ecology of Mono Lake and the adjacent Mono Basin. In 1978, he joined his mentor and friend, David Gaines, in founding the Mono Lake Committee. He returned to graduate school at Berkeley that same year, pursuing his PhD with detailed studies of the causes of the small clutch sizes of Mono Lake's gulls. After postdocs in Europe and at Cornell, he joined the faculty there in 1988 and has pursued studies of swallows throughout the Western Hemisphere (including the Mono Basin) ever since. Biologist and world traveler Justin Hite began his ornithological career in 1999 studying California Gulls with David Winkler at Mono Lake and has gone on to study numerous species in 12 countries, most recently Borneo. He delights in natural history observation of poorly known species where there is always the potential to discover new and interesting things about what it means to be a bird. Besides nest searching, his favorite pastime is entertaining his friends with imitations of bird displays.