Journal Notes

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Nov 29th 2001 We left our campground, Cattail Cove, just outside of Parker AZ and stopped to chat with the Ranger at Bill Williams River NWR who told us someone had reported “The biggest darn vulture you’ll ever see! It’s sitting on a post alongside the highway hissing and flapping its huge wings at cars as they pass by!” How could we pass that up?! The ‘vulture’ turned out to be a California Condor that had left it’s home base in The Grand Canyon and had flown farther south than any other of the condors being managed by The Peregrine Fund for their California Condor Restoration Project. We spent the day photographing the condor as it flew from rock to rock and overhead. California Condors have a body length of over 4 feet long and a wingspan of about 9-1/2 feet so you can imagine the thrill of having something of that size flying directly over your head several times! The condor was fitted with two numbered wing patches and transmitters. Sophie Osborn, Field Manager of the project, arrived that evening with an assistant to attempt to protect the condor and ‘encourage’ it to fly back home again. A major concern was the many major power lines in that area near Parker Dam, which were in the bird's flight path back north. What an endeavor that turned out to be! For three days, Sophie and Chad were able to ‘chase’ the condor to higher perches on the red rock outcroppings of the vertical canyon walls in that area to keep it away from traffic danger. Sophie’s mountain-goat-like ability to climb hundreds of feet up the canyon wall, around and over the rocks, in just a very few minutes was absolutely amazing to watch and something she accomplished numerous times each day. The condor did, occasionally, seem to be testing the air currents in an attempt to gain altitude and the hope was that it might return to the Project site in The Grand Canyon if it could find the ’right’ thermals. Finally, late on December lst, Number 98, as the condor was called, reached a very high perch, rested for about 30 minutes and then flew up and up and up until it was lost to the sight of all of our binoculars. Sophie advised us that they would be able to track the condor’s transmitters and she promised to let us know when and if the condor had returned home. (The good news is that, although it took about two weeks, Number 98 DID make it back to it’s Grand Canyon home again!)

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Nov 29th 2001 We left our campground, Cattail Cove, just outside of Parker AZ and stopped to chat with the Ranger at Bill Williams River NWR who told us someone had reported “The biggest darn vulture you’ll ever see! It’s sitting on a post alongside the highway hissing and flapping its huge wings at cars as they pass by!” How could we pass that up?! The ‘vulture’ turned out to be a California Condor that had left it’s home base in The Grand Canyon and had flown farther south than any other of the condors being managed by The Peregrine Fund for their California Condor Restoration Project. We spent the day photographing the condor as it flew from rock to rock and overhead. California Condors have a body length of over 4 feet long and a wingspan of about 9-1/2 feet so you can imagine the thrill of having something of that size flying directly over your head several times! The condor was fitted with two numbered wing patches and transmitters. Sophie Osborn, Field Manager of the project, arrived that evening with an assistant to attempt to protect the condor and ‘encourage’ it to fly back home again. A major concern was the many major power lines in that area near Parker Dam, which were in the bird's flight path back north. What an endeavor that turned out to be! For three days, Sophie and Chad were able to ‘chase’ the condor to higher perches on the red rock outcroppings of the vertical canyon walls in that area to keep it away from traffic danger. Sophie’s mountain-goat-like ability to climb hundreds of feet up the canyon wall, around and over the rocks, in just a very few minutes was absolutely amazing to watch and something she accomplished numerous times each day. The condor did, occasionally, seem to be testing the air currents in an attempt to gain altitude and the hope was that it might return to the Project site in The Grand Canyon if it could find the ’right’ thermals. Finally, late on December lst, Number 98, as the condor was called, reached a very high perch, rested for about 30 minutes and then flew up and up and up until it was lost to the sight of all of our binoculars. Sophie advised us that they would be able to track the condor’s transmitters and she promised to let us know when and if the condor had returned home. (The good news is that, although it took about two weeks, Number 98 DID make it back to it’s Grand Canyon home again!)

California Condor CALIFORNIA CONDOR 1416