10 Jun Nature’s Fanny Pack: Wildlife at Pinnacles National Park
conservation in action
In this blog, I will be talking about a critically endangered species at one of our National Parks. In late April, interns and volunteers collaborated in a yearly restoration event, held by GOGA, doing Italian and Milk thistle removal at Pinnacles National Park! I joined the event to experience the unique ecology of this park as well as contributing to restoration work, removing invasive species. Along the way we were rewarded by seeing some of the park’s native plants with the spring time blooms and getting a glimpse of a once extinct species in the wild.
California condors!
The California Condor is the largest bird in North America, with the population being at about 500 individuals. Their extinction in the wild occurred in the 80s due to DDT and lead exposure. Luckily, with efforts from zoos, some individuals were raised in captivity, and the population has continued to increase slowly. These massive birds can have over a 9-foot wingspan which is very apparent in the way that they fly! They eat carrion and throughout the park can be seen perched in the highest areas of the park, which in our case, we did the High Peaks Trail. We were fortunate enough to come across a juvenile wild individual, from which you can tell by the dark coloration of its head!
The weather at the park could not have been better for hiking conditions, with it being 60-70s range and a light drizzle accompanied by fog. This worried us slightly in that we would not be able to see the condors, but we were mistaken as a group flew right next to us during our hike! We started the hike early morning, so the birds must have started to become active and would soar out of the fog cover it was truly a sight to experience, hearing them fly by, but then not being able to see where they were until the last minute. Pinnacles has their individuals tagged with colored numbered tags to which, on their site, will tell you a bit of a bibliography on the bird!
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