5-year-old snags rare snapshot of California condor

LOS ANGELES — Like any good bird-lover, Gabriel Gottfried knew what to do when he spied the huge creature perched on a tree branch outside his Topanga Canyon home.

He grabbed his camera to document what experts say may be the first California condor to fly the canyon's skies in more than 100 years.

His action photo of the elusive bird taking wing was remarkable enough.

But perhaps not as remarkable as the fact that Gabriel is 5 years old.

"I'm five and a half!" corrects the pint-sized photographer whose sharp eye and quick shutter finger are being saluted by conservationists throughout the rustic residential canyon.

Wildlife experts who are hailing Gabriel's photo say it's conceivable that a condor was taking temporary refuge from a huge wildfire that ravaged parts of the Los Padres National Forest in September and October.

The forest's Sespe Condor Sanctuary and adjoining Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge is where captive-bred condors have been released in an attempt to reintroduce them to the wilds. Topanga Canyon is within easy soaring range of the condor preserves.

The photograph depicts the giant bird — its head hunkered down and its powerful wings flexing — as it launches itself from a pine tree across the street from Gabriel's house.

Gabriel photographed the bird about a month ago after coming home from kindergarten.

When his nanny, Mayra Flores, commented on the big bird in the tree, Gabriel dashed to a hallway shelf where he keeps the digital point-and-shoot camera that his mother gave him. Just as he aimed it through his bedroom window, the bird took off.

Living on the upper-most northern ridge of the canyon, the boy is plenty familiar with its winged inhabitants. Red-tailed hawks are common. A great horned owl lives in one neighbor's tree. Hummingbirds flutter among vines and wildflowers on the hillsides.

"I tried to take it on the tree, but it moved. I followed it by accident and got it in midair," Gabriel said, demonstrating how he aimed the camera through the bedroom window.

"My dad helped me get the picture out of the camera and into the printer."

Kris Ohlenkamp, president of the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society, said it's doubtful the birds will again become residents of Topanga Canyon.

So Gabriel's photograph is probably as close as his Topanga Elementary kindergarten classmates will ever come to a condor.

"He brought the picture in for show-and-tell," said kindergarten teacher Amy Weisberg.