Hi folks,

Sorry for the lag in updates last week. I’ve been really busy and have
only a small window of time each week for online duties. This email
should get you all up to speed on the last two weeks of progress.

The weather out in Pozo has been sweltering, still, often hazy, and
always buggy. My schedule, for the time being, has settled into a Friday
through Weds. shift up on the mountain. I’m trying to remain flexible
and make sure I’m up there when the birds are moving. Speaking of moving
birds, there have been several days worth of signals in the last two
weeks. For more details on recent telemetry, check out the Hi Mountain
News page at http://www.calpoly.edu/~pandrean/himountain/news.html. So
far, I have received signals for Ventana birds Or-208, Or-212, Or-199,
B-171, B-170, B-164, B-165, Y-192, Y-194, and Y-190. On Friday July 27,
I had my first sighting of 3 condors moving north along the southwestern
edge of the La Panza Mtns! Frequent communication with the Hopper and
Ventana field crews has mad the tracking
much more interesting and fun. If the birds continue to move this
summer, I am confident that the Hi Mountain Lookout will help us to
better understand their flights, patterns of movement, and possibly
roosting/foraging locations along the way.

Progress still continues to be made on the Lookout structure itself. We
now have shutters and a front door and the final remodeling and
installation stages will proceed through the next 2 weeks. We have a
work party happening at the Lookout tomorrow (Sat Aug. 3) which should
be fun and productive. Other ongoing projects include Greg Frugoli’s
design ideas for erosion control , revegetation, propagation of on site
natives and constant removal of the dreaded yellow star thistle. I think
Greg has
some good, common sense ideas. Now we just need to figure out how to
keep the ORV’s out.

I have uploaded several photos to the Lookout photo archive at
http://www.calpoly.edu/~pandrean/himountain/photo_archive.html

Also, check out the collection of condor images made available to us
from Nick Todd/USFWS. Most are photos shot at Hopper by Nick. Others
were shot by Dave
Clendenen/USFWS. You can see Nick’s photos at
http://www.calpoly.edu/~pandrean/himountain/nics_pics.html

I guess that’s all for now. Thanks for your interest and please come on
up and visit me some time!
If you’re interested, volunteers will be meeting @ Pozo Station to
carpool up the hill at 0830 sharp. Bring gloves, food, water, and
sunscreen. You are of course welcome
to spend the night.

Cheers,
Paul Andreano

Several more Ventana birds moving north today. First signals were at 1140 fromB-171 (at appx 125° SE). By 1302, I was picking up B-164, who seemed hot on B-171’s tail. Signals for the two birds remained strong and constant throughout the day. My last signals of the day were at 1555, when I had B-171, B-164, and Or-212 at appx 320° NW. -PDA

Greetings all,

Just a quick update on my activities up on the mountain from 7-8 to 7-13-02….

Last week was a very hot, buggy, yet productive week on Hi Mountain. Several of
the big chores were tackled and I’ve often felt more like a laborer than a
biologist. The Lookout now has windows and a new propane line. The existing
propane tank was moved by crane to a new, safer location closer to the Lookout.
The downstairs has been power washed and half a dozen deer mice were
erradicated.We have started the process of gutting/framing the interior of the
upper level and the steel window shudders have been drilled and are ready to be
hung. We received a generous donation (thanks Dick and Pat) of a pristine
generator which has already seen 15 hours of use on this project.

Friday the 12th was by far the most exciting day for me yet, as it was the first
time that I had strong and consistent signals for condors almost all day long.
At 0935 I began picking up B-167 at about 320deg N.W. (right toward Cone peak).
At 0940 I picked up B-164 in the same general area.My heart began to race. By
1200 I had signals for B-170, Or-199, and Y-194 as well. I continued to take
signals every 30 min or so throughout the day, until I lost all 5 birds at about
1635. They had moved slowly but steadily SE for about 7 hours, and went out of
range in the general direction of Hopper Mtn.NWR (appx.110deg S.E. of the
Lookout). Needless to say, it was encouraging to finally be tracking, though I
strained for hours and never got a visual. I have yet to pick up any Hopper
birds’ signals from Hi Mountain.

In my spare time I’ve been doing plenty of birding, bugging, botanizing, and
being a bio nerd. There is a large bobcat the frequents the road just below the
Lookout in the early evenings. I’ve seen 6 mule deer nearly every morning and
the abundance of Sulfurs, Blues, Swallow-tail and Dogface butterflies is
striking throughout the day. There are three Red-tailed Hawks and an adolescent
golden eagle that frequent Hi Mt., and I have been surprised by the numbers of
Black-chinned Sparrows and California Thrashers in the surrounding chaparral. I
have briefly spotted a Sage Thrasher twice on the north slope of the Lookout.

Until the next update, hope everyone is having a great summer. Come on up and
visit some time!
Paul Andreano