With little anticipation of what to expect on the 196mile drive to Flagstaff we rolled out of our down filled beds and got underway. Not even 2 miles along the road Marc screeches to Lorna to stop……. A Kaibab squirrel.
Now this is no ordinary squirrel, it is large, bigger than our ground squirrel, grey with a wide rust coloured back running up onto his ears, with a white bushy tail. It also has tufted ears, and only occurs in this small section of sub-alpine forest, on the north rim.
Just beyond Marble Canyon, Navajo bridge crosses the Colorado just after Lees Ferry. Sightings of the California Condor have been made here so we decide it is an excellent place to stop for breakfast. As you can now see luck is on our side and there perched on a rafter on the bridge is California Condor No. 70.
In 1983 there were 22 CC’s left in the world, a captive breeding programme was started and in 1995, when only 9 survived in the world, a decision was taken to capture all the remaining birds in a last ditch attempt to save this magnificent species.
Today there are 366 birds in the world of which 186 have been re-released. While we were eating our breakfast we looked up into the sky and there 4 of these black birds, with apricot bare skinned faces, that only a mother could love were soaring on their 9.5 foot wingspan, in the thermals above.
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