About ten years ago, long before I thought my phone needed a camera, a California condor found a possum in the gutter of the sidewalk right in front of my house. I've only encountered vultures a few times in my life, so to see one that is on the critically endangered list was quite a surprise.
Their habitats include Arizona and Utah. I'm just at the upper edge of their region in California, barely a hair’s breadth higher than this map shows:
I pulled into my driveway and he flew across the street to perch on my neighbor's garage until I left, looking more like a sturdy umbrella than a bird. His head was dark tan and mottled with black spots, rather than pink as in the above photo. Winter was just ending, so the sky was grey and drizzly. Once inside the house I could watch him from the front window. He was very cautious about traffic, so he only got a few bites in between cars going by. He showed up again the following day to nip at the possum some more, perhaps preferring a little more age to his snack.
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