Subject: A fence full of vultures
Date: Jul 9 23:01:40 1998
From: "Darrel K. Whipple" - dwhipple at columbia-center.org


Dear Tweeters,

I meant to copy this response to Tweeters last week. Slow to make it, but
here it is:

Thank you, Gerald Hamilton, for the memory jog. Ten or fifteen years ago I
saw a fence full of vultures. Extraordinary! I can't find a record of the
details, but it was on the Elochoman River about four miles upstream from
the Julia Butler Hansen NWR (White-tailed Deer) near Cathlamet, in June or
July. They were against the hills about 400 yards across a broad pasture
from where I stood. The fence was split cedar posts and barbed wire, and
every post for quite a distance had a vulture perched on it! Couldn't tell
what the occasion was, but I'd like to see it again. (Do you suppose my
vultures were the ancestors of yours?)

Darrel Whipple
Rainier, Oregon
dwhipple at columbia-center.org

At 07:09 PM 7/7/98 -0700, you wrote:

>...........The most interesting sight I say was when I was peddling
>along Highway 4 that borders the north side of the refuge. I saw 11
>Turkey Vultures sitting in a row on the wire fence. I wondered what was
>the major attraction for this crowd, till I saw a 12th Vulture fly out
>of the deep grass in the roadside ditch. Upon closer observation I saw
>the half-eaten carcass of a young deer(probably 'roadkill') Anyway, I
>didn't know (till now) that there were these many Vultures even present
>in this area, not withstanding seeing them all present in one
>place!!!!!!!!