July 13, 2004
Big Score for Master Naturalists
Line Drawing from USFWS
First Sight of the Condor Chick at the Grand
Canyon occured today at 6 pm.
Late in a beautiful day at the South Rim, full
of fly-bys and nest visits, the chick living inside
the cavern high on the Battleship Formation was
spotted by two nestwatchers during shift change.
Credit for the first call has to go to Barry Read,
a Xanterra Employee and Nat'l Park Service volun-
teer just coming on shift. He spotted the small
grey-headed bundle almost as soon as he set up
his scope. Moments later, Master Naturalist Scott
Harger confirmed the sighting through the Grand
Canyon Science Center spotting scope.
This sighting was not totally unexpected. Chicks
about this age (about six weeks) are able to move
about, and sometimes wander around the nestsite,
including to the edge. This one may have followed
the male parent, who had just left the nest minutes
before. Except for such an "accidental" appearance,
biologists didn't expect to see the chick until just
before fledging, or first flight, at about 6 months old.
This sighting follows the first sighting of the chick at
the Vermillion Cliffs by about two days. Coincidentally,
the chick at Vermillion Cliffs is thought to be about two
days older.