{"id":16158,"date":"2022-05-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=16158"},"modified":"2022-05-11T13:59:51","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T11:59:51","slug":"tales-from-the-bush-cumulus-confusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/2022\/05\/04\/tales-from-the-bush-cumulus-confusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Tales from the bush: cumulus confusion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
TALES FROM THE BUSH<\/span><\/h5>\n\n

Cumulus confusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

It pays to keep your eyes on the skies in the Californian wilds<\/h4>\n\n

LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST, CALIFORNIA<\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"\"
California condors will scavenge on large carcasses<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

\u201cTHE SKIES WERE PARTLY CLOUDY, the air cool and crisp as winter morphed into spring. While scaling the gritty sandstone crags of Lion Canyon in the Los Padres National Forest, I searched for California condors, a Pleistocene remnant and a species on the brink of extinction.<\/p>\n\n

It was 1996 and the US Fish and Wildlife Service was releasing captive-bred condors into their historic habitat. Early on, Lion Canyon was a vital release site. Its remote, backcountry wilds were ideal for re-establishing populations. I was in the throes of a five-day backpacking trip, hoping to get my first photograph of these raptors.<\/p>\n\n

I scanned all the obvious roosting and potential nesting sites \u2013 Lion Canyon is honeycombed with alcoves, grottoes and clefts \u2013 but by day three I still wasn\u2019t having any luck. Losing hope, in the late afternoon I dropped my camera pack and stretched out on a broad sandstone plateau, closing my eyes, head resting on my pack.<\/p>\n\n

Puffy cumulus nimbus drifted above and I momentarily dozed off.<\/p>\n\n

It felt as if the clouds were getting closer and blocking out the sun. Then there was a monumental swoosh directly above me, as if a hang-glider had soared overhead.<\/p>\n\n

I opened my eyes and sat up, slightly alarmed by such a profound sensation.<\/p>\n\n

Looking around I saw nothing, but then a solitary California condor circled back, soaring directly above me, its impressive, almost 3m wingspan casting a prominent shadow on the sandstone.<\/p>\n\n

Condors are inquisitive birds, and as I lay still, out in the open, perhaps this condor had mistaken me for a potential meal. As soon as I sat up, the condor flew off and landed on a nearby pinnacle, its pumpkin-coloured head standing out against the rugged wilderness.<\/p>\n\n

The lone condor roosted in solace, enjoying the semi-arid backcountry forest.<\/p>\n\n

I managed to fire off a few frames, its black velvety feathers shimmering in the late afternoon sunlight. Then shadows crept across the sandstone again. Overhead, three more condors soared westward. Social birds, the lone condor I photographed flew off to join the others.<\/p>\n\n

My first encounter was more than I had hoped for \u2013 a wilderness high that continues to soar like a California condor.<\/p>\n\n

\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

Chuck Graham is a longtime freelance writer and photographer of the natural world. He also keeps his eyes open at all times in condor habitat. <\/p>\n\n

<\/div>
\n

Have a wild tale to tell? Email a brief synopsis to catherine.smalley@immediate.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Photo: CHUCK GRAHAM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It pays to keep your eyes on the skies in the Californian wilds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":16155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"106","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"106","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_106-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_106-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"May-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"May-2022","purple_external_id":"May-2022-106-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"May-2022-106-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000087231||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000087231||","purple_android_product":"com.im.wildlife.491","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.wildlife.491","purple_ios_product":"com.im.wildlife.491","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.wildlife.491","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"58d61955-0ac4-406c-83f1-ab6f21d86b70","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-05-06T07:48:26Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"a13ed9b9-5923-4cf1-a457-c8f88e35c004","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-05-11T11:59:58Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AoT7ZuVkjTPGkV8j4jjXABA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[29],"tags":[14],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/e88746b4-1d34-4a80-a999-58166f57fa74.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/e88746b4-1d34-4a80-a999-58166f57fa74.jpg",1566,1262,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/e88746b4-1d34-4a80-a999-58166f57fa74-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/e88746b4-1d34-4a80-a999-58166f57fa74-300x242.jpg",300,242,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/e88746b4-1d34-4a80-a999-58166f57fa74-768x619.jpg",768,619,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/e88746b4-1d34-4a80-a999-58166f57fa74-1024x825.jpg",800,645,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/e88746b4-1d34-4a80-a999-58166f57fa74-1536x1238.jpg",1536,1238,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/e88746b4-1d34-4a80-a999-58166f57fa74.jpg",1566,1262,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"It pays to keep your eyes on the skies in the Californian wilds","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16158"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16158"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17036,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16158\/revisions\/17036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}