Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley.
| www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
California Condor
Eben McMillan
14 February 1964
when they both then sailed eastward and passed from sight behind
hill southwest of Three Springs at 10:09 A.M. heading towards the
Tejon flats.
I drove to Williams Canyon at 10:30 A.M. This is the west fork
of the headwaters of San Emigdio Canyon. Leaving my car at
the mouth of Williams Canyon I hiked southwest, up this canyon
for about one mile. Ground squirrels were literally, "all over
the place", in Williams Canyon. Their whistling was continuous as
one drew their attention as he walked along. Three separate Golden
Eagle were seen in this canyon. Two deer were observed lying
down, on the top of the high ridge to the west side of Williams
Canyon, but in the open grassland.
Returning to my car, after hiking in Williams Canyon, I then
drove up Devil's Kitchen, this being the southeast fork of the
headwaters of San Emigdio Canyon. At the end of Progress,
with a car up this canyon, about one-half mile, I found the
carcass of a calf that appeared to have been eaten on by
condor, I photographed this carcass and turned back towards
the foothills. In the west fork of Pleitito Canyon, about one-
quarter mile above the forks, and in the very bottom of a
narrow ditch close by the roadway, I came upon the carcass
of another heifer with a small calf lying about ten feet
behind it. This calf was well decomposed, but the cow, even
though it smelled somewhat putrid was nevertheless
intact with apparently edible flesh remaining on its
corpse, but there was no sign of anything having commenced
to eat on either the calf, or the cow.