This year, 11,075 nests were counted, the lowest number recorded over the 34-year course of one of the longest studies of birds in North America.
The largest number of gull nests ever recorded at Mono Lake was about 32,000 in the early 1990s. The number of nests has been in gradual decline since 2004, and in steep decline since 2016, biologists say.“I’d hate to see this trend continue,” Kristie Nelson, a biologist and expert on the gulls’ breeding habits, said recently. “Every square foot of space out there is precious to these birds.”
For reasons that are still unclear, the weed exploded on the islets in 2016, Nelson said, and 70% of the gulls’ once vibrant breeding grounds “are now big nasty patches of weeds casting off thousands of sticky seeds that attach to your shoelaces, shirts and pants.”As a low-slant of amber sunlight bathed the Mono Basin’s lunarlike landscape on Thursday, a group of conservationists scanned the islets through binoculars, taking stock of their options.
A team of biologists, volunteers and U.S. Forest Service officials have collaborated on plans for limited hand removal efforts and a controlled burn, but the actions have been postponed for three consecutive years due to the logistical challenges posed by extreme fire seasons, winter storm systems, and deep snowpack that prevented access to the islets.
The sex lives of gulls became a hot topic when a declining water level revealed a land bridge connecting a rookery on Negit Island to the shore. This allowed coyotes to pad across and feast on the birds and their offspring. In 1994, the city was ordered by state water officials to reduce the quantity of tributary water it had been diverting into the Los Angeles Aqueduct since 1941, ending a legal dispute that had pitted L.A. against the Audubon Society, trout anglers and the Mono Lake Committee.
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