Here’s a good way to stay out of the rain and see what’s going on at the same time. Aren’t these the cutest California Quails you’ve ever seen?  We have a couple of bevies/coveys/drifts living in the manzanita bushes. They hang around for the whole Winter. Maybe that’s why we call them our state bird.

Yes, folks. For all of you out there who thought the Condor was the California State Bird, you’re hearing the sound of the buzzer.  The humble quail holds that honor.  Its numbers are legion.

Not so the Condors.

After the lightning fires of 2008, there are even less of this endangered species. Two are presumed dead after a June wildfire burned for more than a month through Big Sur, California, where the Ventana Wildlife Society operates its condor sanctuary.

“It’s hard to put a value on the loss of a 6-year-old male that was about to breed and an up and coming female,” said Joe Burnett, Ventana Wildlife Society senior wildlife biologist. “It’s devastating to lose any birds. We can rebuild the pens, but we can’t replace the birds.”

Orville Myers / The Monterey County Herald
Joe Burnett, senior wildlife biologist at Ventana Wildlife Society, gets first look of destroyed release pen used for the condors as #340 watches him walk by at the Basin Complex Fire In Big Sur, Calif., some people were allowed to go back to their homes on Tuesday July 8, to see how their property was. Photo: Orville Myers/ Monterey County Herald 07/08/2008

Big Sur is home to more than 40 wild condors, including mature condors that are now breeding in the wild. Three condor nests were within the burned area. Ventana Wildlife Society biologists entered two of the three nests, finding the chicks alive and healthy.

Photo of California Condor in cliffside cave in remote Ventana Wilderness of Big Sur.
Photo taken April 11, 2007.

You can adopt a baby condor.  Just open your heart, browser and pocket book.