Hi Dennis and Tweeters,

This is pretty interesting about the condor report. I write an article for
the Yakima Herald-Republic every week about the birds that are being seen in
our area. I get some pretty usual reports. A woman called me two weeks ago
and reported see a California Condor at her house in the Nile area west of
Yakima along Highway 410. She said it was about 150 yards away from her
and she looked at it through binos. She even described it fairly well.

I'd say we had better keep our eyes open!

Denny Granstrand
Yakima, WA

At 10:54 AM 4/23/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>In my Master Birders class last week, Dan Willsie told me about
>someone who had claimed to see a California Condor recently at Wilson
>Creek Overlook in Grant County. He said he couldn't shake her
>conviction that that's what it was. Of course, with no further
>documentation, there's not much that can be done with such a report,
>but keep your eyes open!
>
>I wouldn't even have mentioned this except that it must have
>precipitated my dream last night that I was in Othello with Netta and
>a friend, and I looked up and saw a California Condor sailing off in
>the distance. I yelled to them to get it in their binos before it
>disappeared. Instead of leaving us with only a brief but tantalizing
>view, however, the dream cooperated, and the bird circled right back
>over us to show all field marks. I was incredibly elated, and it was
>even more special, as the friend who was with us was Michael Perrone,
>who was with me the only time I ever saw condors in the wild, in the
>Sespe Wildlife Area in southern California on 28 December 1972. We
>saw 7 birds on that memorable day, including one that flew over us so
>low I could hear its wingbeats. As it was only 30 years ago, I can
>remember it well.
>
>Only on awakening did I realize the bird had characteristics of both
>California and Andean condors (including the big "comb" of the
>latter) - so the occasion was even more memorable, as the first
>observation ever of a hybrid condor!
>
>Dennis
>--
>Dennis Paulson, Director phone 253-879-3798
>Slater Museum of Natural History fax 253-879-3352
>University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
>1500 N. Warner, #1088
>Tacoma, WA 98416-1088
>http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/museum.html
>
* * * * * * * * * * *
* Denny Granstrand *
* Yakima, WA *
* osprey at nwinfo.net *
* * * * * * * * * * *