Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley.
| www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
large chunk, the effort of which somewhat caused the bird to
loose its balance, somewhat. Several Buzzards jumped back
out of the Condors way as if a bit wary of this bird when it
struggled in pulling this meat. But soon all were close
together again feeding and paying little attention to the
Condor or the Condor to the Buzzards. At times the Condor
would walk away 4 or 5 feet as if overfilled with
food or else crowded too close by the Buzzards but would
soon step back in and be feeding again.
While Koford and his son watched from the Pickup, that
was parked about 450 yards from the Sheep Carcass,
I took the Telephoto 35 Camera and hiked down a
Canyon, up a draw to a ridge within about 250 yards
of the Condor and Buzzards feeding on the Sheep Carcass, and
Have took several Btw pictures while most of the
Buzzards and the Condor continued to feed. I then
dropped over this ridge, in sight of the feeding birds, and
entered a draw that hid me from the view of the birds
as the carcass and proceeded up this draw in the
hopes of getting a close shot of the Condor feeding
at the Carcass with the Buzzards. After being in this
draw only a short time I saw Buzzards commence
to fly past me down the Canyon and then heard
Koford yell that was to signal me that the Condor
had flown. The Condor then came into view,
coming down the Canyon and about 200 ft. to the
south of me. It commenced circling after it was
somewhat further down the Canyon and continued to
do so as it drifted slowly out over the River Valley
floor. I shot several pictures of it in flight.
The young Condor was very similar to the bird
observed, photographed and took plaster of its
tracks on the river near 16 Spring on 1 June 1963.