Subject: California (Condor) Dreamin'
Date: Apr 8 06:38:23 2000
From: Pterodroma at aol.com - Pterodroma at aol.com


4-07-00, Ed Deal (Dealgen at aol.com) writes:

<<
I will be driving through CA next month and have a day to devote to
seeing a Condor in the wild. Anyone have any current tips on the several
California release sites???
>>

Ed and anyone else who's interested --

Your best shot for 'California' California Condors are probably for birds
released in the Ventana Wilderness along the Big Sur coast south of Monterey
/ Carmel.

Check these websites for more information:
<A HREF="http://www.ventanaws.org/release00.htm">Ventana Wilderness Society
Condor Release March 4, 2000</A>
http://www.ventanaws.org/release00.htm

<A HREF="http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/condors.html">California Condor
Reintroduction Program in Big Sur California</A>
http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/condors.html

Condor viewing "HOT" spots: Valley View Trail in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park,
and Highway 1 (pull-outs just south of Grimes Point). Birds can sometimes be
seen right from the restaurant and parking lot at Pfeiffer Big Sur along
route 1 and they often roost in the trees overlooking the cliffs and ocean
along rt.1 near Grimes Point.

Scenic Big Sur Coast Highway 1 suffered a catastrophic landslide near Lucia,
further south back in February which deleted the entire road bed from the
cliff and has been closed since. Currently, it is opened to traffic
(sometimes) through the destruction zone at 7am, noon, and 5pm. It's a
gamble and a short window of opportunity (10 minutes max) if you're willing
to take the gamble. However, this closure only applies to through traffic
bent on doing the whole coast. Access is not affected to the rt.1 Condor
sites from the north (Carmel). Work is proceeding ahead of schedule and the
predicted Memorial Day opening is looking like it may be pushed back to
Easter as a target barring any further collapses.

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Richard Rowlett (Pterodroma at aol.com)
NOAA/NMFS Gray Whale Survey
Piedras Blancas Lighthouse
San Simeon, California

"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what
nobody has thought" --Albert Szent-Gyorgi (1893-1986).
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