ADVENTURE
BITTER CREEK CHRONICLES
Tracking the Condors BY CHUCK GRAHAM
T
here wasn’t much going on at the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge (NWF). I was lying in the grassy, rolling hills of this California condor sanctuary, and I was waiting for something to stir. It was mid-afternoon and thermal updrafts were just beginning to waft skyward when a solitary condor rose above the refuge like a fighter jet off an aircraft carrier. I sat straight up, holding my 300mm lens in my lap, thoroughly thrilled to see North America’s largest flying land bird soaring above, and quickly joined by another condor. They circled overhead making several passes, their pinkish/orange heads standing out against their impressive velvety black 9-footplus wingspans, their wingtips extending outward like giant fingers on an outstretched hand. Over the years, release sites like Bitter Creek have expanded throughout the condor’s historic range. There are currently 5 other sites besides Bitter Creek that serve as sanctuaries and release stations. Those include nearby Hopper Mountain, Ventana Wilderness along the Big Sur Coast, Pinnacles National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and Baja California. The wild population is augmented with captive-bred birds. Their flight pens help garner condor behavior. The recovery program has been doing this since the early 1990s. And although the wild population is growing and old territories are re-established, it’s getting increasingly more challenging to track their whereabouts. Condors average around 150 miles per day in the air. “It’s a sign of their recovery that they are expanding,” said Arianna Punzalan, supervisory wildlife biologist for the USFWS, who has worked with condors since 2012. “It’s a good thing and a bad thing because how do we continue to monitor these birds?”
Orchard Draw
left in the wild. It was now or never for these iconic raptors. Captive breeding was the only After walking beneath an old, green-leafed, option, so an aggressive plan was put in moapple orchard on what was then part of the tion to save these impressive scavengers. Hudson Ranch, we hiked a short distance north to an exposed ridgeline overlooking There was one thing that stood out on the open book-shaped Orchard Draw on Bit- the barren knoll overlooking the southwest ter Creek. The narrow, nondescript canyon portion of Bitter Creek. It was an old horse was choked in scrubby chaparral, but at the carcass lying amongst some vibrant California bottom of the draw was a gritty sandstone poppies. It marked the site of an ambitious monolith. effort to capture the last remaining California condors. Wildlife biologists Peter Bloom For a good 30 minutes there wasn’t any and Dave Clendenon created their pit trap activity, and then finally there was some in 1987. movement. The sandstone rock outcropping possessed a few gritty cavities and emerging The two biologists dug a shallow grave parfrom the shadows of a shadowy alcove was tially burying themselves with organic debris an adult male condor, known as Condor 328. and a stillborn calf carcass lying across the top. There was one egg in the cave and the doting Sometimes the two would conceal themselves parents swap out on parenting duties, which from sunrise to sunset, waiting patiently for means they share responsibilities on incubat- one of the last remaining condors to land ing their egg. The female is known as Condor on top of them. All they would have with 216. They’ve been together for 10 years. them was some food, water, and a pee bottle. When a condor would land, they would grab Condors produce a chick every other year. it. Stories of black widows and rattlesnakes The chick fledges after 6 months in the cave visiting the pit trap while the two biologists nest. Condors are monogamous, and if the hid beneath were part of Pit Trap lore, but pair survives, they will return to the same nest anything to save these exemplary birds. site to give it another go. Currently, there are 300 California condors in the wild. Getting The Lead Out “I got super lucky and saw the egg the day after it was laid,” said Laura McMahon, wildlife biologist for the USFWS. “It’s pretty easy spotting a nest when a condor is standing in front of it.” Pit Trap
Besides habitat loss, the biggest challenge for the survival of the California condor is use of lead bullets in their habitat. There are alternatives out there for hunters to use, but change can be slow. Condors are scavengers. They are the cleaners of the forest. With incredible eyesight, condors locate carcasses and feed mightily. Lead fragments are soft and break down easily within the condor’s food source. However, lead fragments get in the condors’ bloodstream, attacking their nervous system.
California condors are Ice Age birds. Fossil records indicate they once soared all over North America. However, as megafauna died off so, too did the condor’s range. Fast forward to the 1800s, their range had shrunk to the point where California became their last stronghold, but it was shrinking quickly. Pred“If we remove lead from the environment, Nestled within the Transverse Ranges, be- ators were killed off, either shot or poisoned. condors can be self-sustaining,” said Puntween the Carrizo Plain National Monument Egg collecting and selling condor feathers zalan. “Change is hard, but lead is more of a and the Sespe Wilderness, Bitter Creek NWF were common practices. challenge. Partners are invaluable about getis a haven and another launching pad for reting the word out. Hopefully in my lifetime, leasing endangered California condors. By the 1980s there were only 22 condors the condor will be delisted.” 24 | april 2022
Central Coast Journal
