CALIFORNIA CONDOR
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The California Condors
as they soar over and perch on the cliff rocks at the South rim of the Grand Canyon
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http://birdfotos.com I am glad you came to view the Condors |
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In 2004
Condors number 22 a male and Condor number 19
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paired up and laid an egg in a cave in Battle Ship Rock on it west side.
The year before a nest here failed.
The park biologist repelled down some 200 feet or more to this cave entrance to see what possibly may have gone wrong.
Remains found in the nest cave were from the pleistocene area which in geologic terms is from 10,000 to about two million years ago.
The juvenile and adult condor remains were Carbon 14 dated from 11,000 to 23,000 years ago.
Remains of of at least three extinct mammals were also found in the cave, an extinct horse, bison, and brush ox.
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You could only see the nest cave entrnce from Hopi Point looking east.
This is accessed by riding the west rim shuttle buss and getting off at Hopi Point.
This is the bus that would bring you to the point where you could catch the west rim bus just a few feet ahead of where this buss is.
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This where you would have goten off the bus.
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Waking directly to you left and standing against the rock wall you will the crowd.
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Now, you had to be told/shown just where to look because the cave entrance was 1 mile away as the crow flys.
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As you can plainly see, you are not going to view it with some visual aid.
Actually the cave entrance was 5,100 feet away.
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With a little magnification you could make out the cave entrance.
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And with a little more magnification you could see the cave entrance quite well.
By the way that rock in the center of the cave opening is about the size of a Volkswagon car.
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Magnification unknown.
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Both parents feeding the chick.
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The Condor chick standing the rock with its wings out.
Considering this was a mile away it's not all that bad of a photo, so I keep telling my self.
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The day before Thanksgiving day 2004
Now that's much better. I am using a 5 inch mirror telescope with a digital camera mounted to it.
Normally a mirror telescope will show everything in reversed but I took care of that with my computer.
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The chick fledged this cave home and is flying over the south rim with its parents and the other Condors. It number will be 350. What number will be on its wing I don't know as they have decided not to catch it just yet ( 08/01/05) almost one year leter to attach a number to it.
Well, that's about it for the Condor chick #350.
It fledged this cave site the next day (Thanks Giving Day) about mid day I am told.
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