Latourell Falls Condor!?!

[Hagbard Celine]

I have no pictures to substantiate this but, it was my first time hiking Latourell Falls and we started up the path that goes above and to the left of the falls and so near the end of the hike I turned the corner and was surprised by the falls being in full view all of a sudden and even more surprised by an in flight condor flying very quickly across my view of the falls. It looked as if he had just taken off when he saw me (first) when I came around the corner. It was gone in the blink of an eye but seemed to be about 4-5 feet long from beak to toes that were stretched out behind it for flight.

I know condors have been being reintroduced into southern California, seems at least one of them has made it to the gorge.

[mayhem]

I have no pictures to substantiate this but, it was my first time hiking Latourell Falls and we started up the path that goes above and to the left of the falls and so near the end of the hike I turned the corner and was surprised by the falls being in full view all of a sudden and even more surprised by an in flight condor flying very quickly across my view of the falls. It looked as if he had just taken off when he saw me (first) when I came around the corner. It was gone in the blink of an eye but seemed to be about 4-5 feet long from beak to toes that were stretched out behind it for flight.

I know condors have been being reintroduced into southern California, seems at least one of them has made it to the gorge.

i dont know about Condors but there are Vultures very similar to Condors around
https://www.google.com/search?q=vulture ... 0&bih=1095

[payslee]

That would be very important news.

If the bird was 4-5 feet across, it was too small to be a California condor, those birds are ENORMOUS at like 12 feet across. So, as wide across as TWO tall people end to end - was the bird you saw twice your length?

In flight, these birds are similar in coloring to osprey. We do also have Golden Eagles in the gorge, which don't have the same coloring as condors but are closer to the body size you describe. The last time a golden eagle over-flew me I thought the shadow was a hang glider. And condors are much larger even than that.

In any event, you should call Audubon to discuss the details of your sighting. The Oregon Zoo does run a California Condor breeding program, but their website says that so far all of the birds have been released in Arizona and Southern California.

Pictures next time!!

-payslee

[mayhem]

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... CQ&dur=398

[mayhem]

That would be very important news.

If the bird was 4-5 feet across, it was too small to be a California condor, those birds are ENORMOUS at like 12 feet across. So, as wide across as TWO tall people end to end - was the bird you saw twice your length?

In flight, these birds are similar in coloring to osprey. We do also have Golden Eagles in the gorge, which don't have the same coloring as condors but are closer to the body size you describe. The last time a golden eagle over-flew me I thought the shadow was a hang glider. And condors are much larger even than that.

In any event, you should call Audubon to discuss the details of your sighting. The Oregon Zoo does run a California Condor breeding program, but their website says that so far all of the birds have been released in Arizona and Southern California.

Pictures next time!!

-payslee

Dang!! I did not know we had Golden Eagles. Way too cool! I hope to see one of these

[Hagbard Celine]

It may have been a vulture but I doubt it having seen vultures several times before and this thing was easily twice as big as them or of any living thing I have ever seen in the air. I wish i would have had another couple of seconds to look at it and maybe get a shot.

I saw it from the side only so I don't know how wide the wingspan was but it seemed to me from how far away it was that it's body size would be roughly that of a skinny Labrador Retriever....obviously not shaped the same way but it seemed very large.

Now unless it has more sightings or confirmation it will just be one of those little nagging thoughts deep in the recesses I suppose.

[adamschneider]

It's extremely unlikely that it was a California Condor. Not only are those things rare, but the government also keeps very close track of the ones that are out there now, ALL of which were either raised in captivity or are descended from birds raised in captivity. (In 1987, they actually went out and rounded up every wild condor in the U.S.!) The closest ones to Oregon are in central California, in or near Pinnacles National Park.

I was lucky enough to see a couple of them in April of this year at Pinnacles:

condor.jpg (31.56 KiB) Viewed 3529 times

(Note the tag on the leading edge of the right wing.)

[raven]

4-5 feet on a side view is certainly large enough to be a condor. They used to be found in the gorge, too. Northern California to here is less than a day's flight for a curious and exploratory youth.

[adamschneider]

Northern California to here is less than a day's flight for a curious and exploratory youth.

Ummm, sure... maybe one that's been fitted with jet engines or something.

Seriously, the last condors were spotted in Oregon in 1904, and getting them re-established here is so far in the future that they don't even have a plan for it yet.

[Waffle Stomper]

We also have bald eagles. Juveniles may appear all black and are very large. It would seem highly unlikely that it would be a Condor. Did you see the characteristic bald head?