More Condors

After a couple of recent motorcycle trips down Big Sur way that were totally bereft of condors, my plan this last weekend was for a similar experience, so the emphasis was on the best time to ride.

Saturday morning dawned dry, sunny and clear - perfect time for a ride, so I was out of the house by 8:30am. Part of that plan was to make sure I got back in good time too, so that I could head up north to the Sharks playoff game in the evening (which turned out to be an awesome game - go Sharks!).

I ended up at the condor area by around 9:15am and there was already a biologist surveying the sea lion colony below, which was cool because there were condors down there munching away on a carcass.

Given that there were condors there, I couldn't leave, as I was expecting them to take off after feeding and potentially provide some great photo opportunities.

It took a while, but by 11am, they decided they were full and lifted off. Initially, they headed off south, but after a few minutes, they came back my way - then there was all sorts of cool stuff happening for over another hour.

Most impressive part was bird #251 coming in and landing about 10 yards from where I was standing - a bit too close to humans per the biologists, so after I took some snaps, a loud cough managed to send him on his way.

My original plan was to be home by around 11am, with a drop dead time of 3pm (to be able to get to the Sharks game on time). In the end, I cut the ride short and managed to get home by 2pm, giving me just enough time for a shower and lunch before I headed off to watch the Sharks knock the Red Wings out of the playoffs - a great Saturday.

Check out all the photos here.