November 12, 2004
Photo of Canyon Condor Chick
Here is a photo of Condor #350 taken Friday, 5 November, by GCNP biologist Chad Olson. Select the "continue reading" for a larger version.
#350 is expected to make its first flight any time between now (about 15 Nov)and the first week of December. 350 is about the size of its parents, and is spending lots of time near the edge and flapping or extending its wings, among its many behaviors. Its feathery integuments are sleek and full as you can see in the photo. It has its subadult plumage colors, including the charcoal colored head and neck. The white band or stripe on one row of coverts on the underside of the wings is just barely visible on the right wing.
Chick #350 and the chick at Vermillion Cliffs NM are both about 2-3 weeks younger than the California chick, #326, that fledged about 1 Nov in Ventura County. Estimates of the hatch dates are continually refined by observation of parental behavior and chick development. This in turn helps refine the predicted fledge dates.
Photo was taken at a horizontal distance of 3 kilometers and a vertical distance of .6 kilometers through a Carl Zeiss spotting scope set at about 70X. The mounted digital camera was set at about 5X. The resulting jpeg file was enlarged by 100%(2X), for a net magnification of approximately 700X.