Condor over the Lookout!

Today, 11/20, Kevin Cooper and Tom Murphey from the Forest Service worked at Hi Mtn. Lookout, installing a storm door for improved weatherproofing. During their lunch break they looked up and watched a condor flying above the lookout and then out in the direction of Lopez Lake! Getting out the telonics, Kevin picked up a radio signal for a second condor and had a visual on...

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Audubon California Field Trip

Today, Nov.1st, a group of 13 of us met at Hi Mountain Lookout for an afternoon field trip. Following yesterday’s rain showers there was no dust on the road, everything had a fresh smell after the first fall rains, the skies were deep blue, flat-bottomed white cumulus clouds were scattered widely over the Santa Lucias, and a brisk cold wind blew (wind chill was 36*F in the...

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Hi Notes

LOTS of Condor activity since my last posting! You already heard from Mike and Roger regarding the seven Condors who checked out the Colony/Condor Days Parade in Atascadero, Oct 18th. I was working at the Templeton Resource Conservation District’s Watershed Fair booth in the Atascadero Sunken Gardens and happened to look up at a group of “Turkey Vultures” flying overhead…WHOA!!!...

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AC8, AC9 and the last days of wild California condors by Jan Hamber and Bronwyn Davey, 2003

On a spring day in May 1982, in a remote cave atop a cliff in the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, southern California, a tiny pink California condor chick pecked its way out of its hard egg shell that had protected it for nearly two months. He was greeted by his mother, a giant black bird, with a mottled orange head and a wing span of over 9 feet, who gently stroked him with her powerful beak and nestled...

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Atascadero Condors

Hello all, Saturday Oct. 18, on my way to a meet a friend for lunch in San Luis Obispo I got a message from Kathleen one of are volunteers at Hi Mountain. She had four condors fly overhead in downtown Atascadero. 30 minutes later from a hill by my house in Paso I picked up signals for 5 condors (108, 192, 194, 208, & 209) towards Atascadero. I was able to quickly locate...

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Cal Poly Mammalogy Trip To Hi Mt.

This last weekend, Oct. 10-12, mystical mammal man Dr. Villablanca and his mammoth Mammalogy class of nearly 60 students spent the weekend at Hi Mountain. The entire class stayed down the road and filled Hi Mountain Campground to capacity. Live traps were set Friday and Saturday night along Hi Valley trail, and at 3 locations around the Little Falls/Rinconada connector...

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Hi Notes

Following the very successful Open House Sat. Oct 4th, I again made the trip up to the lookout to check out the Condor activity. We weren’t treated to any sightings on Saturday, but, as Steve Schubert reported, Y179, a 5 year old male Condor from the Ventana Wilderness area, made an appearance at Montano de Oro on Tuesday, Oct 7th. I didn’t pick up signals that evening from the...

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California Condor in Montana De Oro State Park

I was leading a Camp KEEP walk with our 6th grade students at IslayCreek in MDO this afternoon when the radio we carry for emergencies wassuddenly crackling with an excited voice- although the reception wasvery poor I was barely able to make out the phrases “condor flying!’ andthen ‘yellow tag’ in the broken-up communications from my co-workerCathy Chambers. That got my attention. I was ‘trapped’...

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Openhouse/Campout

Hi all,The Oct. 4th-5th event was a great opportunity for many of us toreconnect with friends, talk with colleagues and make new acquaintances.70 people attended the 2nd annual open house events, and long-distancetravelers included Mike and Bronwyn (surprise!) driving down from Pt.Reyes on their way south following their summer work in Alaska, Carolefrom Cupertino, Kathy Ball from Sequoia National...

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Hi Notes

Once again, I have about 3 weeks to catch up on. But to get right tothe Really Good Stuff…Yesterday after picking up signals from twobirds; OR209, a 4 1/2 year old male and W231, a 3 1/2 year oldfemale, and tracking them for about two hours, suddenly the signalswere coming from every direction, loud and strong. I franticallylooked for them with my binoculars but couldn’t find them. Thesignals began...

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Sept 25-26, 2003

Hi folks, A little late on this posting, but some good stuff happened during the2nd half of my stay at the Lookout last week.Temps were mostly high and the breeze slight throughout the week. Lotsof helicopter activity on the south and east slopes of Hi mt. asauthorities continue to search for the Trout Creek pot farmers. Now on to the good stuff…… On thursday September 25 at 1532hrs, condor B-168...

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Notes from the Lokout Sept 24, 2003

Greetings all,This is a wireless transmission from the Hi Mtn. Lookout on WednesdaySeptember 24, 2003 at 2150hrs. Been enjoying the Lookout for the last 2 days. Very hot and stillyesterday. Today the coastal fog penetrated inland valleys andpersisted throughout the early afternoon, cloaking the world aroundme in a thick shroud to about 2500 feet. Quite a sight and some nicerelief from the heat....

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field trip 9/20/03

Today I taught a class at Cuesta College for Community Programs entitled“Condor Country”, a short course offered for the first time (in the morethan 10 years that I have been teaching a yearly series of naturalhistory lectures and leading field trips through the college). After aclassroom slide lecture about condor biology and the California CondorRecovery Program/Hi Mtn. Project, I drove the van...

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Condor off Hwy 46

This morning at about 8:30 I decided to try to drive to Villa Creekto check out some sandpipers and whatnot. I had the telonicsreceiver from yesterday afternoon’s search for California CondorY213, It was strange that the bird just seemed to disappear yesterdayafternoon with neither Holly at Hi Mountain or myself able to pick upa signal from the bird after narrowing its location down to theAtascadero/Creston...

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Hi Notes

Notes from 9/1/03: Picked up 7 birds, total. Here are just thehighlights: The most noteable was AC9. As most of you know, he is thelegendary bird who was the last wild Condor to be taken intocaptivity in the 1980s. He hails from Hopper Mt., and made only abrief trip up our way. Maybe he was escorting the other 3 Hopper Mt.birds, plus the 3 Ventana birds. All signals were coming from thesame general...

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Sept. 5-7, 2003 - A bear of a time

Hey everyone, For a change this week, to cover for Lisa who was going on vacation,I staffed the lookout for the first weekend in September. I had agreat time on Friday with Paul who had been at the lookout sinceThursday morning. With no Condors for the last few days we spentmost of the day trying to identify many of the different namedmountains in the area using various maps. We finally picked...

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Aug 26-28 Condor Flyby

Had a wonderful three days at the lookout this week. Tuesdays mainobjective was tracking the travels of Condor or208 as it spent theday moving through our county. I first picked up 208 at 320 degreesfrom the lookout generally in the direction of Atascadero/PasoRobles. Tracked this bird as it made its way along the Santa Luciasat one point probably flying over parts of east San Luis Obispo andthe...

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Buck Rock Lookout

This past week I was privileged to get to stay overnight and ’staff’Buck Rock Lookout, perched on a high granite dome at 8,500 ft. elevationin Sequoia National Forest. I had a brief visit with Kathy Ball, who hasstaffed the lookout since 1997 and is President of the Buck RockFoundation, an organization devoted to the preservation of fire lookoutsand their historical heritage, and providing the public...

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August 18-21

Hi all, Spent half of Monday driving the great dirt roads in the La Panzamountains. My mission was to post signs, in English and Spanish, atthe major gathering areas for hunters and other recreationists in thearea in an effort to notify the public that condors were using thearea and what the public could do to `Help Save the CaliforniaCondor’. I visited the campgrounds such as La Panza, Friis,...

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More Sierra Madre

Hi all, Just spent another weekend on the Sierra Madre, this time accompanied byAnthony Prieto of Santa Barbara. For those of you who don’t knowAnthony, he is a long-time volunteer with the Recovery Program, an avidhunter, an artist, and a Spanish speaker. He painted the amazing condormural on the Hi Mt. Lookout. Anthony and I spent Saturday and Sundaydriving the ridge from Santa Barbara Canyon...

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