Ed & Doug: I'm enjoying all of your photos. Ed, I wonder if the Brants will come north to Victoria and Sidney I don't want to miss them this year

Hello Kay: The Brants are definitely early this year. Last year, I did not see them until mid-April. -- Ed

Padilla Bay Shore Trail * bottom left
Bayview State Park * right edge
* click twice for bigger picture *


Fir Island * bottom left
North Fork Skagit River delta
Swinomish Channel / La Connor area middle right
Whidbey Island at top with Deception Pass * top right

Trip Report, March 12-20, 2010. This was our third trip to the Grand Canyon in recent years, and we also spent a few days exploring some of the national parks in Southern Utah. I know this thread is reserved for wildlife observed on Pacific Northwest hiking trails, and that some of the following photos could fit into other threads. However, to ensure continuity and to show all the wildlife that can easily be observed in a short period of time in a relatively small geographic area, I have decided to put everything together in one package in this thread.

Condors, Grand Canyon Rim Trail, March 13-15. This is a very easy 13-mile trail on the South Rim that can be hiked in stages. We knew this was the wrong time of the year to see condors, but the Park Service reported four condors had been observed around March 10 over Grand Canyon Village. A few facts about condors, according to the Peregrine Fund: In 1982, the condor was near extinction with only 22 remaining. Today, there are more than 200, about 50 in Northern Arizona. Five condors were trapped and placed in zoos in the 1980s. Captive breeding begun and species were reintroduced. Each was fitted with radio transmitters and numbered wing tags. The first wild condor chick in Arizona fledged in 2003.

Condor search, Near Mohave Point, Grand Canyon Rim Trail, 3-15-10..No luck spotting condors, but we met a researcher with the California Condor Recovery Project who was monitoring condors by tracking them through the radio transmitters. He said he was tracking a condor near Vermillion Cliffs, the condor reintroduction site, north of the Grand Canyon. Horizontals are clickable

Condors in Grand Canyon. These are NOT my photos, but are public domain photos that have been released by Grand Canyon National Park. Condors are the largest bird of prey in North America. Wingspan: up to 10 feet. Weight: up to 25 pounds. Life expectancy: up to 50 years.

Threat to condors: Signs such as this one are posted at several places along the rim trail. This sort of hits home since Trumpeter Swans in Whatcom County and in B.C. have died after swallowing lead shot pellets left from waterfowl hunting. Condors have died from ingesting lead shot in carcasses as well as ingesting coins tossed into the Grand Canyon. Clickable