Version espanol (see English version below): Nuestro equipo llego a Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito la manana del 11 de Septiembre, a al llegar, nos impresiono la belleza del ambiente. El paisaje enorme, las gramineas nativas, y las rocas basalticas son impresionantes. En California, muchos de las gramineas nativas han sido reemplazadas por gramineas exoticas.
Nos encontremos con personal del parque y fuimos al balcon norte donde tuvimos una vista increible de la Quebrada del Condorito. Mientras la neblina fuera disminuyendo, vimos un grupo de 20-25 condores Andinos posados y volando cerca de unos banos de agua en los huecos de las piedras. Los condores usan a los banos para banarse y para descansar, despues de tanto tiempo volando buscando comida.
Tuvimos el suerte de ver grupos de 15 condores posados en los banos y hasta 10 volando en el aire. Cuando vimos a estos aves volando en el cielo, nos quedo impresionado que parecido estan a los condores Californianos. Estuvimos muy entusiasmados por ver condores nacidos en lugares naturales. Todos los condores Californianos tienen numeros en sus alas y los monitorean los biologos muy cuidadosamente todos los dias.
Conversamos con nuestros companeros del Condorito hasta muy tarde, y seguimos la manana siguiente mientras tomamos mate. Compartimos las experiencias y los desafios en cuanto al manejo de Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito y Pinnacles National Monument. Son parecidos los dos parques, tenemos recursos naturales en comun, y tenemos desafios de manejo en comun. Desde esa oportunidad muy breve pero intensa de conocernos, nos dimos cuenta de que somos una pareja muy adecuada para ser parques hermanas, y que formar tal relacion seria una oportunidad muy buena para ambos parques. Les agradezco a nuestros nuevos amigos de Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito su hospitalidad y su amistad.
El dia siguiente (el 12 de Septiembre) un grupo de Cordoba canal 12 vino al parque para preguntarnos sobre nuesta visita y tratar de filmar a los condores. Tuvimos suerte que, con un poquito de nieve de la noche anterior y mucho sol, salieron aun mas condores a volar y banarse que el dia anterior. El grupo que vino a filmar salio muy contento.
Tambien hablamos con un grupo de estudiantes en su ultimo ano de una escuela secundaria cercana. Ellos estaban casi tan entusiasmados con los condores que nosotros.
Salimos del parque en la tarde, con rumbo a Parque Nacional Sierra de las Quijadas en la provincia de San Luis donde esperemos conocer a la gente del parque y conocoer a una poblacion diferente de condores. Tambien esperemos poder observar algunas investigaciones sobre condores.
Abajo pueden ver algunos videos de nuestro visita.
English Version: Our team arrived at Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito the morning of September 11 and we were immediately struck by the beauty of the surroundings. The vast landscape of native perennial bunch grasses and basaltic rock outcrops is impressive. In California, the native perennial bunch grass community has been largely displaced by exotic annual grasses.
We met with park staff and then headed out to an overlook that gave us an impressive view of the Rio Condorito canyon. As the fog lifted we saw a group of 20-25 Andean condors resting and flying near large pools of water that had formed in the depressions in the rocks. The condors use these pools to bath and rest after they spend much time during the day flying over the surrounding countryside looking for food.
We were lucky to see groups of 15 condors resting at the main bathing spot and as many as 10 condors flying in the air near us. When we saw these giant birds soaring overhead in the sky, we were impressed with how similar the Andean condors looked compared to California condors and also thrilled to see truely wild condors. In contrast, all California condors have numbered tags on their wings and are closely monitored by biologists daily.
Conversations with park staff and our Pinnacles team continued through the night and the next morning where we compared notes on many similar park operations. We also enjoyed cultural aspects of drinking mate together and learning about our different challenges in park administration and natural resource protection. From this brief, but intensive opportunity to get to know one another, we determined that a sister park relationship between our parks was a great fit and would be an exciting opportunity for us both! A letter of intent for cooperation between our two parks will be drafted next week. The Pinnacles staff are very thankful for the warm hospitality of our new partners.
On Friday, September 12, a news team from a provincial television station (Cordoba Canel 12) came to the park to ask us about our goals for the trip and try to get some footage of condors. We lucked out, with snow on the ground from the previous evening and beautiful sunny skies, there were even more condors flying and bathing than the previous day. The film crew was not disappointed with the great condor show.
We also talked with a group of seniors from a local high school. Their enthusiasm matched ours as the condors soared overhead.
Leaving the park in the late afternoon, we headed towards Parque Nacional Sierra de las Quijadas in the province of San Luis where we will spend the weekend talking with park staff and looking at a different group of condors. We will also observe condor research being conducted in the park.
The video clips were taken 12 Sept in Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito.
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