A couple of weeks ago when we drove down the Big Sur coast, we noticed people with a spotting scope at a pull out. We stopped to find out what they were observing and discovered they were looking for the rarest of birds, the California condor. These birds were released in Big Sur several years ago and have formed a colony of 12-15 condors. The place to see them is by mile marker 43 miles as I recall, but you should check the web. People commonly stop at this pullout to watch them.

We were very excited as neither of us had ever seen a condor before. We could hardly have been more fortunate in our introduction to these birds as bird lover Tim Behr was on the side of the road. He is the nephew of Peter Behr who saved Point Reyes National Seashore. As we watched the birds, Condor expert John Moir, the author of ‘Return of the Condor’, arrived with a couple who also hoped to see the huge, graceful birds. He filled us in on their natural history. At one point we saw five in the sky.

It was a hot, sunny day, and the conditions were such that one of the bird flew back and forth along the cliffs at our elevation. One actually came so close that it was too big in the viewfinder of Richard’s camera to get the whole creature in the frame! Here are the best of the photos...

-Kathleen Goodwin