A Face Only a Mother Could Love

Near Lee's Ferry, which I talked about in my last post, is Marble Canyon.

This is the first part of the Grand Canyon trip for the rafters who left Lee's Ferry just upstream.

And this is where the bridge was built in 1929. At the time it was the only bridge across the Colorado River for 600 miles. The old bridge, now a pedestrian bridge, is on the left. It was later replaced by a wider bridge, on the right. But where am I going with that title?

Wow! It's a California Condor, the largest bird in North America. Nearly extinct at one time, they are trying to make a comeback, with the help of several organizations. Many are released near here, and seem to like landing below the 2 bridges.

And here's another one - a juvenile, with a black head. There are only 386 California Condors in the world today, including 213 in the wild.

And yet another one! Their wingspan is 9 1/2 feet. I'm feeling really lucky.

But wait - what is that on the other side of the pedestrian bridge! A condor landed on the railing!!! I wonder if I can get over there in time.

Carolyn and I hurried on over, and tried not to scare her.

But I needn't have worried - she seemed perfectly comfortable posing. (I was zooming a lot, and not really as close as this looks...)

But here's why they aren't really afraid of humans - most are raised by humans wearing condor puppet heads on their hands at the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho.

Sometimes, they stick their head out of their neck feathers. All the birds are numbered and have radio transmitters.

An eyeball closeup! Wow - what an experience!