I was rafting on the Stanislaus River in California in the late 1970's when I saw a Condor flying up river, no more that 50 feet off the water, probably 1/4 mile in front my raft.
We were in a still part of the river and it was very quiet.
The Condor flew right over the raft, wings barely moving, just the feathers on the tips of the wings adjusting heading, at perhaps 30 feet.
The thing I will always remember was the sound: You could
hear the air passing over the great wings, creating lift.
The customers in the raft were from Germany. I remember because one of the daughters was my age and hotter than a pan of Kasespatzle.
We all looked at each other and no one said a word. It was cool.
Not my pic:
