Subject: Olympic Vulture Study
Date: Nov 16 19:53:36 1997
From: "Diann MacRae" - tvulture at halcyon.com


OLYMPIC VULTURE STUDY - 1997

The Olympic Vulture Study has been operating for six years on Washington's
Olympic peninsula. The site is at Tongue Point, in Salt Creek County Park,
a marine sanctuary 16 miles west of Port Angeles. Tongue Point juts into
the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the body of water separating Canada and the
United States. The width of the strait at this site is about 17 km, or 12
miles, one of the narrowest points.
The study was established in 1992 to find the route of the many turkey
vultures which congregate at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, British
Columbia each September-October. The site is directly across from the
vultures' staging area at Rocky Point/East Sooke Regional Park just west of
Victoria. It is in operation 7 days a week, from 0800-1700. Canadian
hawkwatches are held also (but not daily) and, when possible, results are
coordinated.
It has been established that the turkey vulture population, for the most
part, does indeed cross in a narrow band from V.I. to Washington - most are
seen within a 4-5 mile stretch of coastline. Weather has seemed to be a
factor, the vultures preferring pleasant days with winds from the SE at 3-5
mph. 1996 was this type of 'good weather' year, and the total count for
three weeks was 1,899 turkey vultures, the highest count ever. The highest
daily count, 611 birds, was also recorded in 1996.
1997 (16 Sept-08 Oct) was entirely different as far as weather. Rain,
strong fronts, winds from the north and southwest, and much 'blustery'
weather were the norm. While our totals were less, it didn't stop the
vultures. They flew in everything except heavy rains, kettled far out over
the water, and seemed to do everything in the book we'd never seen them do
before. Following are our 1997 - very belated, I'm sorry - results:

Turkey Vulture 1,261

Osprey 7
Bald Eagle 13
Northern Harrier 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 13
Merlin 3
Peregrine Falcon 5
Unid raptor 2
Unid falcon 1

And a first record for the area: 54 brown pelicans during 1 hour on 1 day
(28 Sept) !!!

Funding for the study has been provided by the Hawk Migration Assn. of
North America and the Northwest Ecological Research Institute.

for further information, contact Diann MacRae, coordinator, at
tvulture at halcyon.com