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Poached Condor in Co

Never knew they existed this far east. What an a$$hole


There are condors in the desert southwest, I don't think they get into Colorado much though...and I agree, what jackass shoots a condor??? I've been fortunate to see a couple wild ones up close, they are incredible birds, not something you'd mistake for anything else.
 
I saw a pair of condors perched on the railing of Land's End forest Service Visitor Center west of Grand Junction CO, in about 2005. In a lifetime of wildlife watching, it was a singular moment. Their presence was big local news. https://eagletimes.com/2021/08/21/o...e an email inquiry,could make their way there.
They had numbered tags, and were unmistakably distinct from any other raptor, perched and in flight. Point being, you know what you're aiming at is a condor. They are also extremely susceptible to lead poisoning in scavenged carcasses. Dolores area residents: if you know something, say something.
 
I saw a pair of condors perched on the railing of Land's End forest Service Visitor Center west of Grand Junction CO, in about 2005. In a lifetime of wildlife watching, it was a singular moment.
I think the Grand Mesa sighting was in 1998, because I was working remotely for CDOW in Ft Collins for a couple of months and missed the opportunity to go see them. They were only there a day before heading home. Pretty cool.
 
I think the Grand Mesa sighting was in 1998, because I was working remotely for CDOW in Ft Collins for a couple of months and missed the opportunity to go see them. They were only there a day before heading home. Pretty cool.
I bet you are correct on the year. I just happened to stop @ Land's End that day, and there they were. Phenomenal.
 
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People are so stupid. What a wildly immoral thing to do, to potentially rob future generations of living in a world without an animal for the 15 second rush of mindlessly wasting an endangered species.
 
We had nesting birds at SML Park in the cliffs above the shop. I would watch them often. There was a camera up there too.
Lots of eagles and osprey nested at the lake too.

Was heading to Big Sur with the ex and the dogs for a camping trip. Riding along the edge of those drop offs. HWY 1.
Came around the bend and 3 condors were riding the edge of the road and right at us . Wings as wide as most of the road. They went right over the hood and cab,all 3. Like a few feet away.

I found several Golden and Bald eagles that had been shot on the way to and from SML.

Seen a few dead Goldens near me here in NM.
Locals still spew wives tales of eagles carrying off kids...
 
We had nesting birds at SML Park in the cliffs above the shop. I would watch them often. There was a camera up there too.
Lots of eagles and osprey nested at the lake too.

Was heading to Big Sur with the ex and the dogs for a camping trip. Riding along the edge of those drop offs. HWY 1.
Came around the bend and 3 condors were riding the edge of the road and right at us . Wings as wide as most of the road. They went right over the hood and cab,all 3. Like a few feet away.

I found several Golden and Bald eagles that had been shot on the way to and from SML.

Seen a few dead Goldens near me here in NM.
Locals still spew wives tales of eagles carrying off kids...

The ones I saw were in Big Sur as well, it's pretty cool to be driving along a cliff edge and having a condor riding the upslope wind just a few feet outside your window!
 
I did a report on the California Condor back in my youth…that was about 50 years ago.

23. That was the number. There were 23 California Condors in existence. 23.

Circa 2007, a few of my motorcycle friends of mine and I are on out annual ride to Monterey. Return trip, pull over on the coast (highway 1) pullout…there’s some heavy machinery there. Big Cat’s and stuff for working on the road.

One of the big shovels is covered in these freaking huge birds. They’re like standing 3’ tall, perched on the hardware. One spreads its wings…gotta be 8’ Spread. I shot up a dozen photos. Ugly, ugly bird…and I loved every minute of it. Each bird was numbered…

I knew what they were. How ridiculously rare this moment was…to be 5’ from these birds…nothing short of amazing.

So yeah. #*^@#* that asshole. #*^@#* ‘em hard.
 
I did a report on the California Condor back in my youth…that was about 50 years ago.

23. That was the number. There were 23 California Condors in existence. 23.

Circa 2007, a few of my motorcycle friends of mine and I are on out annual ride to Monterey. Return trip, pull over on the coast (highway 1) pullout…there’s some heavy machinery there. Big Cat’s and stuff for working on the road.

One of the big shovels is covered in these freaking huge birds. They’re like standing 3’ tall, perched on the hardware. One spreads its wings…gotta be 8’ Spread. I shot up a dozen photos. Ugly, ugly bird…and I loved every minute of it. Each bird was numbered…

I knew what they were. How ridiculously rare this moment was…to be 5’ from these birds…nothing short of amazing.

So yeah. #*^@#* that asshole. #*^@#* ‘em hard.
Do you happen to still have those pictures? They would be great to see!!
 
Do you happen to still have those pictures? They would be great to see!!


Here we go. This would have been early, December 2008. We always did that ride around the first full weekend of December. This was shot on Highway 1, North of Big Sur. It's a really prominent pull out.

The birds were totally chill. It was so cool to be that close to such a rare animal. I loved it.DSCF0187 (4).JPGDSCF0186 (2).JPGDSCF0185 (3).JPGDSCF0183 (6).JPGDSCF0182 (3).JPG
 
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