ENDANGERED SPECIES... often face a host of dangers and obstacles, but there are ways for humans to volunteer to help make a difference here and there. One of the ways that supporters of the California condor regularly pitch in is by signing up to participate in micro trash pick-up day with the Ventana Wildlife Society. You don't have to guess too hard as to what "micro trash" means: It is refuse that is "(t)ypically smaller than a quarter," the kind of items that an adult condor may deliver to a chick in a nest (the parent condor is believed to be looking for bone fragments that "chicks need during development," so it is easy to see how a small piece of plastic or metal might be picked up by the bird). There is a way to reduce the micro trash in Big Sur and help the dozens of condors who call the Central Coast home: Sign up to join a micro trash pick-up day. There are a number of dates now listed on the 2017 calendar, which was released in late January.
APRIL TO AUGUST: Find a quintet of micro-trash pick-up days during the warmer months, with a sixth day coinciding with Coastal Cleanup Day. The first volunteer day of the season? Saturday, April 22, with more Saturdays to come. The meet-up point? Make your way to Andrew Molera State Park's Discovery Center for the morningtime event. There's a list of items that the society will have on hand, but you're encouraged to peruse what else you might want to show with (water, for sure, and sunscreen, also for sure). Do you adore those mega-wing-span'd flyers? Have you wanted to go to where the condors are and lend them some love and TLC? This is an action-oriented way to spiffy-up their natural world. More info can be found this way.
