Another week and no Condors

But it’s okay. Karine and I, maybe Stuart, Marcelle, and John are going to Ventana next week to meet more people in charge of helping these awesome, majestic birds recover. Honestly, I can’t wait. One, I love Big Sur and two we’re going to help build a flight pen!

Update at the lookout: No sightings of condors, but I did see another Bobcat and a bunch of birds. The weather once again was weird and I’ve never been that cold in August before. I had at least 4 layers on and a ski hat! The fog was desne on friday and it finally cleared up on Saturday. I get excited everytime I track a new bird or ones that haven’t been tracked in awhile. When the same old birds are flying around and are being tracked, I always wonder when are they going to stop by Hi Mtn and pay us a visit.

Interesting story of the summer: Somehow a domestic cat has found it’s way to the lookout and is loving the attention. Chances are she was dumped off by some mean person and has managed her way into the lives of the interns. If anyone knows or wants an all black, very sweet, young cat, let me know asap. As of right now, I’m planning on taking her back to civilization on Sunday. I’m just too worried about mountain lions or bears, etc getting her. When she’s back in SLO, she’s going to be living at the Cal Poly Cat Shelter were she will have a very nice living space with other cats and volunteers that will love her. And yes it’s a no-kill shelter. Please let me know if anyone wants to adopt a cat.

I think that’s about it for now. I wonder what next week will bring???

~Meghan

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Summer 2006

This summer has been amazing! We started the summer with a trip to Hopper, where we saw about 10 Condors. This was amazing must of us had never seen a California Condor so it was a thrilling experience. The rest of the summer has been spent tracking these wonderful birds,
some days we get over 10 different signals, other days fewer but everyday is a new experience at the lookout. Although there has not been a Condor sighting at the lookout the sightings of other wildlife
are abundant. There have been sightings of Black Bears, Bobcats, Coyotes, Poorwill and a Golden Eagle to name a few. OF course there are the resident birds which include Dark-eyed Junco, Band-tailed Pigeon, California Towhee, Bewick’s Wren and Anna’s Hummingbird. The hummingbirds have been going crazy with about 20 or more visiting the lookout daily! NOt only is the lookout visited by wildlife but we have had many visitors over the past couple weeks including a group from
Pozo on the 4th of July, the Atascadero Fire Crew, a couple from Michigan and some kids from Napa Valley. All of the visitors have been extremely excited about Condors and the lookout.
The weather has been interesting as well. Some days it is so hot with temperatures in the upper 90’s and then just two days ago it was in the 60’s. This past weekend the humidity was over 85% and the fog was so thick you could only see for a 100 feet.

I hope everyone else is enjoying their summer as much as we are at the lookout!!
Take Care, Kelly

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Crazy July up at Hi Mt.

The month of July has been an exciting month for all the interns. We’ve been able to master the equipment, track condors successfully, and learn to manage life in the wilderness. So far we haven’t seen any condors hanging out by the lookout, but we’ve been tracking a lot of Pinnacle birds and a few from Hopper and Ventana. Hopper called us the other day, because they lost signals from another bird. We finally tracked the bird a few days later and everyone was very excited to hear the good news. The past weekends up at the lookout have been very hot and hardly any wind, the dogs don’t like this weather at all. Karine and I have made several trips down the mountain to the Forest Station to get ice in order to keep semi-cool. Then we stop by the creek and let the dogs go swimming for a while to cool off. Last weekend, what a change. I got up there on friday in shorts and a t-shirt. I later had to put on sweat pants and a thermal. Well, mother nature once again played a trick on me. It was only 65 and 35 mph winds. Later that day the fog blew in and set off the smoke alarm, because of the humidity. Needless to say I woke up the next morning and I couldn’t see no more than 150 feet because of the dense fog. No condors yet, but the other wildlife has kept us entertained for the time being. That’s it for now.

~Meghan

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Hi Mt. Visit

Hi all,
I sent this out to some of you, here it is again. Good feedback for the project.
Steve

Date: Sat, May 27, 2006, 9:34pm Subject: A nice surprise!

Steve,
I am an avid outdoorsman and Dual Sport motorcycle rider and would like to put in a good word for the volunteers who were working the lookout on May 27,2006. I was a first time visitor today and had no idea there would be anyone up here. Well I have to say that I was quite surprised to see someone here and was rewarded with a warm welcome and tour of the facilities. What a treat it was to be in such a remote and scenic area only to find such nice people as your volunteers were. I realize that
some hikers and bird watchers frown on the Dual Sport aspect but I must say that I was treated with a warm welcome and the hospitality was superb. I plan on bringing my wife and kids up to see the Lookout and will always extend my fullest courtesy to those on foot. Thanks Again for a great experience and best wishes.

Phillip Eubank

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Hi Mt Visit

I am an avid outdoorsman and Dual Sport motorcycle rider and would like
to put in a good word for the volunteers who were working the lookout on
May 27,2006. I was a first time visitor today and had no idea there
would be anyone up here. Well I have to say that I was quite surprised
to see someone here and was rewarded with a warm welcome and tour of the
facilities. What a treat it was to be in such a remote and scenic area
only to find such nice people as your volunteers were. I realize that
some hikers and bird watchers frown on the Dual Sport aspect but I must
say that I was treated with a warm welcome and the hospitality was
superb. I plan on bringing my wife and kids up to see the Lookout and
will always extend my fullest courtesy to those on foot.  Thanks Again
for a great experience and best wishes.
Phillip Eubank

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10-Year Anniversary Event

Hello all,
Twenty-two people attended the Hi Mountain Lookout Project 10-year anniversary event. During the lunch break we were joined by another 15 who were attending the annual Pozo Wildflower Weekend field trip.

Special guest Don Parham shared his recollections of the 1970*s Huff*s Hole peregrine falcon nest watch. Hi Mountain Lookout was staffed by volunteers from Morro Coast Audubon Society, working several day shifts, observing and protecting the endangered peregrine site each nesting season before the USFS fire lookout would come on duty. It was great to have Don make a visit again after all these years!

We also appreciated an update on the condor recovery program and recent events at Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, presented by USFWS biologist Dan Tappe.

It was a good day to be up on the mountain!

-Steve Schubert

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