California Condor field notes, v1401
Page 215
Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. | www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
Gymnogyps californianus June 26, 1946 Nr. Keck's Corner, Calif. concern yesterday, At 12:30 we stopped about 1/2 mile NE of where saw the dog yesterday, 4 condors flapped out of head of a draw about 1/2 mile E. of the dog. One min. alighted on hillside, then took off & joined the oth- ers at about 1 minute later. They circled & rose over NE facing slope, breeze being from NE, 4 headed, singly about 2 miles S., then E. At 12:42, 2 adults flapped out of same draw at foot, about 1/4 mile S. of the car, & also circled & rose. There were 800+ above the hills & rising at 12:54 - and then 3 more (1 min.) 2 adults) took off from foot of the same feeding draw & began to circle & rise. I do not think our presence was the cause of any of these birds leaving. So, 10 total have left the draw. There 3 circled & rose, work- ing to NW, 4 at one time a fourth was near them. They rose to 1500+ above a flock of 500 sheep about 3 miles SE of Annette Lookout in the foothills, & I lost them there at 1:09. Then visited the canyon from which the condors flew. Then I found a thoroughly cleaned sheep carcass. It lay about 300 yds. up the shallow draw from its mouth & a little used dirt road, on a 10+ % S. slope, 30+ vertically +100+ yds. on the slope from ridge crest. The hills there were virt- ually bare, the grass being close cropped by sheep, apparently the sheep had been dragged 50+ yds. downhill. Flushed 4 turkey vultures from it. The