A leisurely morning led to the Sunday morning Butterfly Ramble where I took a group of 15 enthusiastic nature lovers out butterflying. There were few butterflies, although on the trip down the Lee Vining Creek trail several Behr's Hairstreak were found on their hostplant "Bitterbrush". I then led the group to Mono County Park where just a few more butterflies were found. The weather just wasn't cooperative for butterflying ; it was too cool and breezy.
I saw many year birds and mammals at Mono Lake Visitor Center and Mono County Park, but didn't spend enough time to really bird well.
The end of the festival picnic was fun with a group selling delicious Indian tacos as a fundraiser for their group. There was music in the park which was ok but a bit loud for my taste, then a bird and other things calling contest... that was fun... lots of great imitations and then some not so great... I won second place for my imitation of a Spotted Owl. As a prize I received a book on Peregrine Falcons.
I didn't take too many photos of Mono Lake this time. Just photographed the critters encountered during scouting and a few during the field trip to try to ID after. Seems not enough time to focus on good photography, too much ground to cover.
Leaving California behind for the next month, I entered Nevada and drove for what felt like billions of miles. Some amazing views of geology and desert vegetation. Mostly Great Basin Desert, was surprised to see occasional pockets of Joshua tree. I guess the Mojave reaches far up the state in some places.
A magical moment occurred when I stopped to photograph wild horses. A pronghorn sauntered up to the fence and stared at me, while I was taking his photo, I noticed a badger that must have been foraging along the road just in front of my car. It was startled at the sudden appearance of a large black predator and took off running into the fenced field beyond the road; it did not stop for a long time.
A surprise lake appeared in the middle of nowhere where I saw the only ducks in Nevada. This was a pretty spot to stop but a pair of Prairie Falcons found it to be annoying that I would do such a thing and became pretty agitated, I quickly shot a few photos and left so I wouldn't continue disturbing their very apparent nesting area.
Almost out of Nevada, I stopped for gas and then headed down the road toward Bryce Canyon, thinking little towns are notorious for speed traps, I slowed to the requisite 25 mph albeit slowly in Panaca, NV, when the local sheriff quickly stopped me for going 27 mph. Still smiling over the horse, pronghorn, badger incident, I refused to let it bother me and related the story to the sheriff. He actually let me go with a warning (this was the first ticket I have ever talked a cop out of giving me even though no real cop would have given a ticket for that). The last thing I did before leaving Nevada was to insist that the gopher snake in the middle of the road find safer accommodations.
Finally arrived near Bryce at around 3 a.m. and stopped. I slept in my front seat on the side of the road because I was too tired to do anything else.
531 miles
