I visited the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park this summer. Reintroduced condors live in both of these areas. And I had sightings in both areas. But I worry about all my sightings, a lot. I have gotten confirmation from the Peregrine Fund and Zion thru e-mail, but I want your opinions. The first time. I was sitting by the edge of the canyon, when my dad called me, saying there was a condor. I ran to him, coming around the lodge looking up. A large bird (which I later found out was the bird my dad was looking at) flew over me. It was all-dark lookin, big, and it had its wings swept back slightly. But I was in a rush, and I mostly ignored it. When I got to my dad, he told me it had flown right over me. He said it was much bigger than the nearby soaring TV's, but it was definitely a vulture, not an eagle or something. It had spread primaries like fingers, a small head, broad wings, and a short tail. He didn't see a tag on the wing, but he was focused on the field marks. It flew over him, banked, swept back its wings, and flew over me as I came into view. The second time, Zion in Utah. We were waiting for the bus stop, when we noticed two large birds, circling a mountain peak. Definitely not TVs, no dihedral or rocking. Very large, and slowly circling. We watched them for 15-20 minutes until the bus came, and not once did they flap. We disregarded the birds because at the time we didn't know condors visited Zion. We read that months later, and asked experts for confirmation, and we got it. I feel more confident about the Grand Canyon encounter, because at least one of us got a really good look at the bird. So what do you think? I am confident. Either way, these three birds won't be the last condors I see!
I was at the Grand Canyon last year in May, and my boyfriend and I saw 8 condor there. Initially, we saw several vultures flying down in the canyon, but with such a huge backdrop, they didn't look very large, so we assumed they were turkey vultures. Twenty minutes later, still at the same lookout, we looked over the edge of the cliff at the tops of some enormous pine trees to see a condor sitting at the top of one, white wing tags very visible (#87), and several others flying close by! Was a first for us! Just amazing...
They are beautiful (yet ugly) birds. i love their sheer size and wingspan. The white patches on there wings are really cool, although the bird I saw was a juvenile, I couldn't tell on the others. I hope they keep surviving in the wild.