Tim Huntington - webnectar photography

Tim Huntington - webnectar photography Photos of condors, cetaceans and vistas, typically along the central coast of California.

Big Sur had a 2 for 1 seafood buffet deal going on over the weekend. 2 different buffets near Highway 1, 13 miles apart....
07/20/2026

Big Sur had a 2 for 1 seafood buffet deal going on over the weekend. 2 different buffets near Highway 1, 13 miles apart. California condors were taking advantage of both of them.

The first photo shows 16 year old condor 550 on Saturday morning as she was checking out the more northerly buffet on the beach below, with the second photo showing her and her partner, 14 year old 652 Ferdinand, as they took a second angle to weigh up the pros and cons of visiting this particular buffet (condors are cautious diners).

In the end they both left without dining, but 550 returned later in the day to partake in some buffet at this location.

The third photo shows 168 Beak Boy, at 29 years old the oldest member of the central CA flock, leaving the scene of the more southerly buffet, with both a belly and crop full of sea lion tartare (my recent story was an iphone through the scope video of him dining on said sea lion).

3 year old wild fledged juvenile California condor 1229 Penny has her eyes on the perch as she comes in to land through ...
07/18/2026

3 year old wild fledged juvenile California condor 1229 Penny has her eyes on the perch as she comes in to land through the mist. Taken earlier this month.

At the beginning of the month I was lucky enough to accompany the crew up to the VWS sanctuary on a handling day. I mana...
07/15/2026

At the beginning of the month I was lucky enough to accompany the crew up to the VWS sanctuary on a handling day. I managed to tie my record for most California condors seen in a day at 58! - a welcome reminder of the flock's vitality after the recent high profile deaths.

The marine layer was nestling just below the sanctuary for most of the day but rose up to our level a few times, and within the marine layer is breeze, so whenever it rose up, the birds took flight.

Here are a few "group" shots from what was a magical day.

Image details:
- 1137 Blue, with 994 Xakkin and 1095 Jabba higher up in the misty marine layer
- 9 condors including 1078, 745 and 914 Pasquale
- 943, 209 Shadow and 718 Apollo



btw - I still haven't finished editing photos from this day.

With the recent passing of coastal favorite California condor 646 Kodama, it was a nice reminder of her ongoing legacy w...
07/08/2026

With the recent passing of coastal favorite California condor 646 Kodama, it was a nice reminder of her ongoing legacy when I got to see all three of her offspring last week up at the VWS condor sanctuary. Even better for a photographer like myself, two of them, the youngest, 1204 Jade (already 3 years old!) and eldest, 1003 Katie's Bird (now 7) were standing close enough together to fit into a single frame.

Last week I was able to take this family portrait of California condors, mom, 550 on the left, 2 year old junior 1315 Su...
07/01/2026

Last week I was able to take this family portrait of California condors, mom, 550 on the left, 2 year old junior 1315 Summen in the middle and dad, 652 Ferdinand, on the right. It's kind of unusual to find a 2 year old still hanging with their parents, but I wasn't complaining!

Prior to them all joining up in this tree, they'd made their way down to a likely seafood buffet, out of my sight at the base of the cliffs below where I was, but on their way down I was able to get some photos with Pt Sur in the background - it's a rare occasion when I can get a condor or two and Pt Sur in the frame at the same time.

The second shot shows 652, and the third shot has 1315 (top) and 550 making their way down.

California condors (& turkey vultures) aren't the only ones to benefit from Big Sur's occasional seafood buffets. These ...
06/29/2026

California condors (& turkey vultures) aren't the only ones to benefit from Big Sur's occasional seafood buffets. These two coyotes got to enjoy some buffet on the beach a couple of days ago. It's hard to tell what the buffet is in this photo, but they're enjoying some sea lion tartare.

California condor 550 partially catching the early morning sunshine as she headed out over the ocean in strong winds ear...
06/27/2026

California condor 550 partially catching the early morning sunshine as she headed out over the ocean in strong winds earlier today.

From a couple of days ago, California condor pair, 574 Nomad and his mate, 1006, make tight turns as they come in to haz...
06/23/2026

From a couple of days ago, California condor pair, 574 Nomad and his mate, 1006, make tight turns as they come in to haze a third bird (1174 Wiley, not pictured) off his perch as a somewhat gentle reminder of where they all fit into the flock hierarchy.

Anatomy of a Take Off.I was originally going to post the first image only, showing 16 year old California condor 550 lea...
06/19/2026

Anatomy of a Take Off.

I was originally going to post the first image only, showing 16 year old California condor 550 leaving her overnight roost on Thursday morning, but then I realized these four shots (the first three taken over the course of 2 seconds, the fourth a few seconds after that) illustrate how condors often get going using their smarts rather than their energy.

Followers of this account will already know that condors don't like to flap if they can help it as flapping uses a lot more energy than soaring, and this launch demonstrated that very well.

In the first frame she can be seen stepping off her perch and in the second frame we see she's using gravity to generate speed (also known as falling 😉) so that the air moving over her wings starts to generate lift (the original branch she launched off is at the top of the second image).

In the third frame she has enough speed to generate lift and she starts to level off and by the fourth frame, she's in more or less level flight, heading out of the canyon she spent the night in and out on to the coast where a decent breeze coming in off the ocean allows her wings to generate enough lift to rise up into the base of the low clouds and head out for the day - all without a single flap!

Consider this a Public Service Announcement😉 Although Highway 1 is now open from Carmel through to San Simeon, that doe...
06/16/2026

Consider this a Public Service Announcement😉 Although Highway 1 is now open from Carmel through to San Simeon, that doesn't meant it's all plain sailing (driving).

There are various locations where there's one way controlled traffic, some long term (Rocky Creek, Point Sur and very soon, Coastlands), and others that pop up, mainly on weekdays, as crews are out doing various different tasks to maintain this scenic highway.

As you're sitting there, waiting for your turn to drive on, don't forget to peek out of the windows at the view, and if you get super lucky, you might have a California condor or two fly by.

I wonder if these folks waiting their turn last Thursday noticed the early morning sunlight catching condors 1087 Bucky and then 1081 (both 5 years old, hatched withing 6 days of each other) as they passed by the line of traffic as they headed up and out of the area from the beach below.

Address

Monterey, CA
93940

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Tim Huntington - webnectar photography posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Tim Huntington - webnectar photography:

Shortcuts

Share