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Celebrating the Survival of Three Wild Chicks Continued from page 1<br />
fire, however, as the nest was located in a<br />
cavity at the top of a large redwood tree in<br />
a remote area that had been completely<br />
burned over. Checking on the chick<br />
required a helicopter and some serious<br />
climbing. I brought in climbers Joseph<br />
Brandt and Ivan Hartert from southern<br />
California to help me reach the nest and<br />
recruited pilot Jim Cheetam to fly us in on<br />
September 2, <strong>2008</strong>.<br />
We are happy to report that all three of the chicks have now fledged.<br />
Based on blood samples, we know that the coastal chicks (470 and 475)<br />
are both males. However, the redwood chick (477) was way too scrappy<br />
for us to take a blood sample, so we’re still waiting to determine that<br />
chick’s gender.<br />
Although the flames had reached more<br />
than halfway up the 200-foot tree, the nest<br />
cavity was located at the top, and looked<br />
like it could have survived. After an hour of<br />
climbing, Joseph was able to peak into the<br />
nest and give us the good news—the chick<br />
was alive!<br />
I then climbed up to help radio-tag and<br />
vaccinate the chick, which we estimated to<br />
be about five months old. It’s unbelievable<br />
that the chick survived the heat and smoke<br />
exposure of the fire—truly miraculous.<br />
And thanks to Joseph, Ivan, and Jim for<br />
their invaluable assistance on this grueling<br />
house call!<br />
Climber Joseph Brandt prepared the five-month old miracle chick for its<br />
first check up and vaccinations. This chick was radio-tagged to monitor its<br />
movements due to the remote nest location.<br />
Notes From the Field,<br />
September <strong>2008</strong><br />
By Jessica Koning, VWS Condor Field Biologist<br />
Collectively, condors live life at a relaxed pace. They spend<br />
most of their time idling in treetops, or riding gentle<br />
updrafts in slow circles in friendly groups of around eight<br />
individuals. Because they are so social, groups of condors<br />
routinely meander up, down, and around the Big Sur coast,<br />
like they are riding a gigantic carousel. It is no wonder<br />
that the official name for a group of condors is a “party.”<br />
The biologists on the condor project log many hours<br />
documenting this slow social whirl. Occasionally, though,<br />
we see behaviors that remind us that condor life isn’t<br />
always a party and these giants are not always gentle.<br />
Our adult condors are now beginning the breeding cycle,<br />
which will reach a fever pitch this January. Most of the<br />
year, condors are not territorial, but during the breeding<br />
season a pair of mated condors will vigorously chase away<br />
any intruders from their nest. Our condor flock is young,<br />
and most of our adults have mated only recently. In some<br />
cases, the boundary between one pair’s nesting territory<br />
and their neighbor’s is under dispute. Condors who<br />
genuinely enjoyed dining on dead sea lion together last<br />
month are now grappling viciously in midair, and appear<br />
to be earnestly trying to harm one another. It turns out<br />
that good fences make good neighbors whatever species<br />
you belong to.<br />
Bald Eagles Continue to Thrive<br />
Bald Eagles are once again soaring over Central California,<br />
thanks to decades of hard work by conservationists. In<br />
<strong>2008</strong>, we documented a total of 23 Bald Eagle chicks raised<br />
and fledged in the wild throughout the Central California<br />
Coast Region (which includes the counties of Monterey,<br />
San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Alameda, Contra Costa, and<br />
Santa Clara). This brings the total of known wild-raised<br />
Bald Eagles in the region to 143 since 1995. After a 60-year<br />
period that saw no breeding Bald Eagles on the California<br />
Central Coast, we now have a thriving, year-round<br />
population.<br />
The Bald Eagle population recovery is the result of the<br />
banning of DDT use throughout the U.S., strong protection<br />
of the birds under the Endangered Species Act, and<br />
regional release programs such as the one conducted by<br />
<strong>Ventana</strong> <strong>Wildlife</strong> <strong>Society</strong>. In August 2007, Bald Eagles were<br />
removed from the Endangered Species List after more than<br />
45 years!<br />
Continuing thanks goes to all of our supporters and the<br />
hard work of our team. The success of the Bald Eagle<br />
recovery effort provides great hope that we can achieve<br />
similar successes with other badly depleted species,<br />
including the California Condor.<br />
ON THE WILD SIDE FALL <strong>2008</strong> 4