I study how bird songs influence mating strategies in white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) and am interested in how traffic noise impedes the ability to assess bird songs and subsequently affects their reproductive success. During this summer’s fieldwork at Tioga Pass in Yosemite, we woke up to something very unexpected…a snowstorm had hit overnight- in JUNE! There was about 1-inch covering the field site. It only lasted a few hours, but it completely changed the field season for the rest of the summer. Many birds that had already started their nests had to start all over again.

[Photo and caption by Carly Hawkins]

[Edited by Karli Chudeau]