California condor survey field notes, v1476
Page 205
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.