Lovely pics, Jason!
ChaseJxyz, if you come to Australia, you can see cockatiels (quarrion) in the wild!
And trees or bushes full of parakeets, all one color. That blew me away (among many things that blew me away). Here you see a couple here and there in pet stores or people's houses. But a whole bush full in the wild!!!
I'm on Amazon now looking at hummingbird feeders!
I'm on Amazon now looking at hummingbird feeders!
I think the bird in the last photo is a female House Finch rather than a Cardinal - but lovely all the same!
Ventana Wildlife Soc Mod • an hour ago • edited
HI All, our hearts are with the community right now as we remain optimistic for the condor flock. Good news, the Dolan fire slowed a bit last night as it crested the ridge and temps are forecasted to be cooler today. If the fire slows down it will burn with less intensity and do less damage. We hope it burns under the trees and not through them. Based on what happened last night, the fire is burning mostly under the tree canopy with occasional flare ups. Those ridges are peppered with dead trees so that's expected. Fortunately, the area of Iniko's nest is closer lower in the canyon in the marine layer, tucked in a redwood grove where the ground vegetation is not as dense. During the last fire in 2008, we observed a similar slow and low burn through the redwoods, so were hoping for the same. The pair will stay close to the nest as long possible before the smoke/fire becomes unbearable. They will seek refuge in a safer location temporarily and then return to the nest once the fire passes through. Condors tend pick robust nest sites(redwoods, caves) that can withstand the elements for these type of scenarios. Based on what we learned in 2008, we are holding out hope for the chicks.
Can we rescue Iniko or any of the other chicks? This is not an option due to safety concerns for our field crew. In addition, access points to nest areas were closed off by fire officials shortly after the fire started on the evening of August 18th..
Their are currently 8 chicks in nests in central California (5 on the coast and 3 inland near Pinnacles National Park). Four of the coast nests are in the path of the fire. The Dolan fire is still working it's way down the south ridge of the canyon and should burn through the release site and Iniko's nest territory sometime today. Our thoughts remain with the community, the firefighters, and the condors. Thank you for the kind and caring messages. We will keep you updated.
Ventana Wildlife Soc 22 hours ago
A wildfire, known as the Dolan Fire, was spotted late on August 18 near the Condor Sanctuary in Big Sur, one of the key locations where Ventana Wildlife Society works to restore condors. Fortunately, we had prepared for this possibility by doing everything we could to protect structures. Thankfully, no staff are at risk and no condors are in holding pens at the site. The bad news is that condors frequent the area and nesting condors are currently at risk. We hold out hope for these resilient birds because they have survived fire in the past. In 2008, the Basin Complex Fire burned the Condor Sanctuary destroying two structures. The status of three wild chicks was unknown until biologists confirmed all miraculously survived. Here’s a video from 2008 of VWS biologists climbing a redwood nest seeing “Phoenix” for the first time after the fire. One of the chicks now threatened by the Dolan Fire is “Iniko” the chick named by the public and seen on Explore.org. Although we are concerned for the welfare of the chicks in nests unable to flee from the fire, a rescue attempt is impossible at this time. The risk to human safety is just too great to intervene. Our thoughts are with those affected by the wildfires and the efforts of firefighting crews. Since this is a rapidly changing situation, we will keep you posted.
Links: Condor Chick "Phoenix" survives fire
Explore.org Condor Cams
That's scary as hell!Iniko Update- 11:20 AM PST August, 20, 2020
HI everyone, Iniko looks good. However, the fire has yet to burn through the nest area, so cross your fingers the flames come though low and slow and Iniko remains protected in the redwood nest cavity. Redwoods are highly fire resistant, so lets hope it protects our little friend. A fog layer moved in this morning so that should help slow the fire. We will likely lose connection once the fire gets close and burns through the camera cable. Send good thoughts!
Even though the fire was intense, Brandt felt optimistic that Condor 871 had survived. In 2010, he presented data at an ornithology conference showing that since the reintroduction of condors in Southern California, wildfires had burned six active nests, and five of those chicks survived.
“These wildfires are something that condors are adapted to,” he said. “For as long as there have been condors, there have probably been wildfires in this part of California.”...
Less than a mile from the car, Seal Faith spotted two adult condors perched on a rocky ridge above the river. Nylon tags printed with large numbers identified them as 871’s parents. The chick couldn’t be far away now.
Seal Faith and Brandt scrambled onto a boulder above the river to look for the chick. They scanned the eastern side of the river, which had almost entirely escaped the fire, and Seal Faith pointed towards a black spot about 100 yards above the canyon floor. There, the chick—now a fledgling, and nearly as large as her parents—perched on a rocky ledge on the unburned side of the canyon.
She had survived the fire, though with slightly tattered feathers. Upon closer inspection, Brandt said the tips of her primary feathers looked like they had been singed. “It may be that the chick fledged right when the fire was burning most intensely,” he said. Otherwise, the fledgling appeared to be in good health. She stretched her wings, and hopped from one rock to another.
Everyone involved with the recovery program had been rooting for Condor 871, and they were thrilled to find her alive.
Just as repeated fires lead to cavity formation at the base of trees, related processes generate canopy cavities that provide a dry cliff-cave-like shelter. While only a small fraction of large old growth redwood have canopy cavities, these unusual fire features likely provided a unique habitat element along the California coast for millennia.
By 1987, only 22 condors survived in the wild due to a century and a half of intensive poaching, poisoning by lead ammunition and habitat loss. Through government and private efforts, these survivors were removed from the wild and their numbers grew through a captive breeding program at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angelos zoo. As of 2008, there were 332 alive, 156 of which have been released in California and Arizona.
No one guessed that California condors would nest in a coast redwood canopy fire cavity. In 2008, one of these released birds decided to nest in one near Big Sur. As if this nesting event was not remarkable enough for redwood ecologists, the site where the nest tree occurred burned in a wildfire that year, and the chick survived.
How close were the condor chicks to flight? If they were fledged, and about to fly, I am hoping that the updraft of hot air from the fires might make their first desperate attempt more successful. They are, after all, designed to soar on warm updrafts.
Fingers crossed and a prayer said for the condors.