Location: Pleasanton Middle School

Topic: “Sierra Wings: Birds of the Mono Lake Basin”

Presenter: Marie Read

This program will explore birdlife of the Mono Lake Basin with nationally known bird photographer, Marie Read, whose stunning photography is featured in her newly released book, Sierra Wings: Birds of the Mono Lake Basin. Marie will share with us the fascinating lives of the birds that breed or migrate through this spectacular birding hotspot. Iconic Mono Lake, in California’s eastern Sierra, is famous for bizarre tufa towers rising from its surface and its highly saline and alkaline water. Teeming brine shrimp and alkali flies attract huge numbers of breeding and migratory birds, including California Gulls, Wilson’s and Red-necked Phalaropes, and Eared Grebes. The surrounding sagebrush scrub, pinyon-juniper, Jeffrey pine and conifer-aspen forests support many other species birds such as Pinyon Jay, Violet-green Swallow, Sage Thrasher, Lewis’s and Black-backed Woodpeckers, and American Dipper.

Enjoy Marie’s stories from the field and learn how she obtained some of the behavior and action shots in the book. Marie has authored two previous books: Secret Lives of Common Birds: Enjoying Bird Behavior Through the Seasons, Houghton Mifflin, 2005, and Common Birds & Their Songs, coauthored with Lang Elliott, Houghton Mifflin, 1998. You can see Marie’s work at www.marieread.com. Signed books will be available for purchase.

To reach Pleasanton Middle School, take I-680 toward Pleasanton. Exit at Bernal Avenue and head east on Bernal to Case Avenue. Turn right on Case. The school is located on the right. Park at the south end of the parking lot. We are meeting in the library, which is to the left once you enter the campus.