FreeLists / birdky / [birdky] California Condors are being successfully reintroduced in the

["Michael Hamm" <hamm@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Grand Canyon (AZ), south rim. We saw several there last spring.

-----Original Message-----
From: OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx [mailto:OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx]=20
Sent: Friday, February 21, 2003 12:09 AM
To: birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; albirds@xxxxxxxxxxx; =
marvdavs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [birdky] Old acquaintance is Killed

A tragic loss,

In the fall of 1986, I read an article in the news, they had decided to=20
capture the last three wild California Condors in an effort to save the=20
species. I was stuck that I might never experience these birds and =
hurriedly=20
got a few friends together and we journeyed out to California. We went =
to the=20
regular places and stood around for hours and on our last afternoon we =
stood=20
at an overlook with a group of students talking. Suddenly, directly =
above us,=20
a rustling in the wind and there in a slow glide and low enough to hear =
the=20
wind flowing over its wide out stretched wings was a wonderful bird, no =
a=20
magnificent bird.=20

A silence spread across the group as each discovered the bird and after =
it=20
had sailed out over the valley, you could hear everyone exhale and a =
nervous=20
chatter spread through the group. Only then did I notice that not only =
I, but=20
every other soul that had a camera, never once thought to take a photo. =
It=20
was the type of experience that happens a few times in a birders career, =
you=20
just stand and stare.

We did manage to see all three of the wild birds that afternoon and I do =
have=20
a shot of three distant dots in the sky. I think of that experience time =
and=20
again.

Today, the California Fish and Game Commission, in a press release, =
disclosed=20
that condor # AC8, the last condor born in the wild to wild parents, was =

found dead on Feb. 18. The bird had be re-released back into the wild =
after a=20
long stay in captivity. My mind raced back to a time some 17 years ago =
when=20
this bird had graced me with its presence and a great loss was felt. =
Even=20
more remorse and guilt followed when I read the bird had been shot.=20

We have a lot of work to do, we have to bring more people to the same=20
understanding that some Indians had; we do not own the earth, nor its=20
animals, nor its plant life, but are stewards only. We have a trust that =
is=20
slowly, much to slowly coming into focus for more and more each day. =
Will the=20
realization come too late?=20

I have no qualms with hunters nor hunting but I would like to know just =
what=20
went through that persons mind, when that creature fell from the sky. He =

cannot take away the experience I had on that mountain side, years ago, =
but=20
there is a vacant feeling in my heart which will take time a long time =
to=20
heal due to his callousness. I take this murder personally.

Good Birding!!!

Jeff R. Wilson
OL' COOT / TLBA
Bartlett Tenn.


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The BIRDKY Mailing List requires you to sign 
your messages with first & last name, city, & 
state abbreviation.
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with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject line.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
Visit the Kentucky Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.biology.eku.edu/kos.htm
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
BIRDKY List Manager: Gary Ritchison, Richmond, KY
E-mail: gary.ritchison@xxxxxxx