California Condors Over Bright Angel Trail

evenstar · Joined: 03 Jan 2003 Posts: 5548 Location: SCW by way of CA

Numerous Conders soaring over the BA last week. Camera was the Fuji S5000, using the 10X optical zoom and my hiking pole as a monopod.
Photos in the Gallery.
Check out 00 & 7 just at the edge of the trail; didn't need zoom for them....they were less than 10 feet away!
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John Richardson and Richie Rich, El Perro de Playero
http://members.tripod.com/~evenstar/index.html
http://www.arizonahikers.com
When the Man waked up he said, "What is Wild Dog doing here?" And the Woman said, "His name is not Wild Dog anymore, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always. Take him with you when you go hunting."
--Rudyard Kipling, from Just So Stories, 1902

Daryl · Posted: 8/16/2004, 7:03 pm Post subject:

Great shots, 8 and 14 are my favorites.

Just a tip: I have a 10X zoom camera too. a quick lesson I learned; if you are at 10x zoom you need to use a pretty quick shutter if you are shooting handheld. I try to keep it faster then 1/400 at full zoom.
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evenstar · Joined: 03 Jan 2003 Posts: 5548 Location: SCW by way of CA

I was using my hiking pole's camera mount for the Condor shots......my neck may never be the same! Crazy

_________________
John Richardson and Richie Rich, El Perro de Playero
http://members.tripod.com/~evenstar/index.html
http://www.arizonahikers.com
When the Man waked up he said, "What is Wild Dog doing here?" And the Woman said, "His name is not Wild Dog anymore, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always. Take him with you when you go hunting."
--Rudyard Kipling, from Just So Stories, 1902

Arizonaheat · Posted: 8/16/2004, 7:21 pm Post subject:

Awesome shots of an awesome site. Good job Hooli Exclamation

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Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life.

Sande J · Posted: 8/16/2004, 7:22 pm Post subject:

Great shots Hooli...and very cool that you were up close and personal Very Happy

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And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stone, good in everything..
-William Shakespeare-

BoyNhisDog · Posted: 8/16/2004, 7:45 pm Post subject:

I like "perched out on the point" and the profile portrait. Good job with these big birds.
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evenstar · Joined: 03 Jan 2003 Posts: 5548 Location: SCW by way of CA

I just noticed the wing numbers, 7, on the Condor in photos 9 & 10......same bird that was with 00 in photos 6, 7 & 8!
_________________
John Richardson and Richie Rich, El Perro de Playero
http://members.tripod.com/~evenstar/index.html
http://www.arizonahikers.com
When the Man waked up he said, "What is Wild Dog doing here?" And the Woman said, "His name is not Wild Dog anymore, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always. Take him with you when you go hunting."
--Rudyard Kipling, from Just So Stories, 1902

Hikngrl · Posted: 8/17/2004, 10:22 am Post subject:

I wanna go back to the Grand Canyon.... <~~~~insert whiney voice here..... Sad

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~~~Diane~~~

I want to shine!

Davis2001R6 · Joined: 12 Dec 2003 Posts: 5591 Location: Italy

Hikngrl · Posted: 8/17/2004, 10:49 am Post subject:

April 30th was my one and only visit! It was a great time!
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~~~Diane~~~

I want to shine!

jmzblond · Posted: 8/20/2004, 9:35 am Post subject:

Garbage sickens condor chick; another dies
Associated Press
Aug. 19, 2004 12:40 PM

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - A California condor chick that was part of an ambitious breeding program has died, while another was found with a broken wing and gobs of trash in its gullet.

Rescuers found more than half a pound of trash in the injured chick, including 35 bottle caps and a pop-top ring, said Mike Wallace, team leader for the California Condor Recovery Program.

Wallace said he's unsure what killed the other chick, which was found 20 feet below its nest in the Los Padres National Forest. That chick also had trash in its stomach.

"We're upset because we don't like looking at dead chicks, but overall we're on the right track," Wallace said, referring to the overall results of the program.

The injured chick underwent surgery Monday at the Los Angeles Zoo to pin its broken wing and have the garbage removed.

Wallace said the chicks may be eating trash because of an instinct to eat hard objects to help with digestion. Condors also eat bone chips for calcium, he said.

The chicks are two of just five born in the wild this year. The developments leave just three baby condors in the wild - one in Los Padres and two in Arizona - among a total of 101 wild condors in California, Arizona and Baja California.

There are nearly 150 other birds in captivity, and the total population has now increased tenfold from when the captive breeding program began in the 1980s.

Several condors have hatched in the wild in Southern California during the past few years but all died at about 4 months of age.

Only one chick has fledged in the wild in the past two decades; that bird hatched last year in Arizona and is doing well.
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Blond, James Blond... double "O", uh oh!!

"The romantic lifestyle of goats leaves a lot of time for digesting books" Charlotte La Chevre, (taken from "Conversations With A Goat" by Robert Shekter)

Hikngrl · Posted: 8/20/2004, 9:43 am Post subject:

Pack it in/pack it out, and for goodness sakes people use trash cans provided!

Don't you wish every one would pay attention!?
_________________
~~~Diane~~~

I want to shine!

jmzblond · Posted: 8/20/2004, 10:36 am Post subject:

Amen sister!! Preach it loud and proud!!
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Blond, James Blond... double "O", uh oh!!

"The romantic lifestyle of goats leaves a lot of time for digesting books" Charlotte La Chevre, (taken from "Conversations With A Goat" by Robert Shekter)