Ants in the field...what kind?

Wildlife camera team volunteers found these ant mounds when heading out to camera #2 at chalk hill last September (2013). Today (Oct.21,2014), volunteers Mike and Ruby Klatt, Bev Gingg and Cal Poly intern Trisha Huynh, found another active mound along the LATO trail. The bottom photos show a close up of the ants (not too close since I only had my cell phone camera). These are commonly known as field or mound ants. See the full story at Wild About Ants!

Amazing Condor Sightings

From Docents Mike and Ruby Klatt:

Here are a few of the photos that I took of the condors that we saw as we drove up Highway 1 on Monday (Sept. 22,2014).  We started seeing condors south of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.  We saw a few lone condors and two pairs flying together.  We also saw three condors sitting at the tops of some redwood trees.  We were told by a “nature guide” that the three were parents and their offspring.  One of the photos shows what I believe is the offspring sitting at the top of the tree.  I did see two other condors fly out of the tree but I had put my camera down and did not get a photo of them flying away.

These sightings came the week after we enjoyed Morro Coast Audubon Society's presentations about condor biology, ecology and recovery efforts. Cal Poly intern Elizabeth Saldo joined one of her colleagues in reporting on their experiences as summer interns at the Hi Mountain Condor Lookout.
Lead poisoning continues to be a major problem but conservationists are making progress in educating hunters and encouraging transition to non-lead bullets.