9902 Sulphur Mountain Road
Ojai, CA 93023-9375
Phone: 805-640-0000
Email: info@mehermount.org
Wednesday-Sunday: Noon to 5:00 p.m.
Monday & Tuesday: Closed
Buzz & Ginger Glasky
Sam Ervin, Preident
Ron Holsey, Vice President
Ursula Reinhart, Treasurer
Jim Whitson, Director
Richard Mannis, Director
Margaret Magnus, Secretary
Anecdotes, activities and stories about Meher Mount - past, present and future.
Filtering by Category: Birds
The birds at Meher Mount are irresistible.
Whether you’re a dedicated bird watcher or a novice, there’s something about being at Meher Mount. You want to grab a pair of binoculars and go see what birds you can find.
And if you’re a photographer, you are always looking for opportunities to capture their beauty on camera.
Read MoreAt Meher Mount, it pays to look up at the skies from time to time for you never know what you might see there.
The latest delight has been the first appearance of California Condors — four of them on one occasion — soaring over Meher Mount’s open fields and swooping down toward the area around the Visitor Center.
The condors first appeared on a windy day, November 7, 2020, “hiding” among a wake of smaller Turkey Vultures (as a flock is called) catching the coveted air currents that rise from the west.
Of course, it would be difficult for condors to hide anywhere since they are such giants of the skies. With wing spans as large as 10 feet, the shadow of a condor flying overhead will take anyone’s breath away.
Read MoreWhen representatives from the Ojai Raptor Center (ORC) arrived at Meher Mount on August 15, 2019, to release an American Kestrel and a Red-Tailed Hawk, Jaclyn DeSantis, wildlife rehabilitator and ORC supervisor, warned all of us to have our cameras ready.
Her 11 years of experience in doing bird releases taught her that these gorgeous creatures take their chance at freedom very seriously. “This will be over in ten seconds once I open the box,” she said, “so don’t anybody blink.”
Read MoreJust after dawn this morning – as with most mornings – three or four California quail coveys drink at the pond, followed by hordes of Dark-Eyed Juncos, three different species of Goldfinch, and several Spotted Towhees. All are gathered for their morning ablutions and chatter fest.
This morning there is a special guest among the avian visitors. As a cool mist envelops the top of Sulphur Mountain, there is a rarely seen Hooded Oriole, the latest addition to the Meher Mount bird family. He repeatedly makes his appearance at the Hummingbird feeders to the delight of onlookers. The Oriole balances precariously on the feeder rim while sipping the sweet nectar with his long slender beak.
Read MoreDuring their annual migration, more than 300 species of birds are estimated to use the Pacific Flyway as their connection between the Arctic and South America, according to NASA Science. The flyway stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and includes all of California.
Every year, millions of migratory birds head south, then north, using the 4,000-mile-long and, in places, the 1,000-mile-wide route known in search of places to breed, feed, and spend the winter.
Read MoreWhen the Ojai Raptor Center sent out an email after the December 2017 Thomas Fire encouraging landowners to install perches and box homes to support the raptor population in the area, Meher Mount responded.
The center said the fire had destroyed raptor (eagle, hawk, falcon, owl) habitat in the area, and putting up boxes and perches was one way to help the recovery of these birds.
Meher Mount was also motivated to install the boxes to create a natural form of rodent control. A simple walk to Baba’s Tree and Avatar’s Point demonstrates the abundance of small rodents (such as gophers, voles, and mice) at Meher Mount. The ground is pock-marked with their holes.
By helping raptors thrive, Meher Mount is helping to keep the predator-prey balance in the ecosystem. The Ojai Raptor Center calls raptors and owls “free, natural and abundant rodent control!”
Read MoreThe Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) residency in Baba's Tree has much expanded! There are four to five full-size nest holes, plus some tentative ones, all along the underside of one branch.
Read MoreWhen my wife Lilly was pregnant with our son Cyprus and near the end of our stay as Manager/Caretakers in 2006, we would frequently hear owls at Meher Mount.
One morning, around 5:00 a.m., I woke up and made my coffee and heard an owl hoot-hooting.
Read MoreIt was a beautiful day Saturday, April 11, 2009, when Meher Mount hosted two bird watching walks.
Manager/Caretakers Ray Johnston and Elizabeth Arnold were extremely prepared as usual. They had worked to make sure the hiking paths were mowed and the roads open.
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