Hello, Tweets

The kids should all be fledged by now so there should be a few more visible
turkey vultures here and there to admire (and anticipate!). Turkey
vultures are constantly doing new and exciting things. I was sent by
several kind souls the Bird Chat message which describes - and this is an
eye-witness account - a turkey vulture catching a ground squirrel and then
proceeding to catch a thermal higher and higher, all the while with
still-alive squirrel twisting and turning, until reaching the proper
altitude, then dropping said squirrel, which, upon reaching the ground,
promptly died. The vulture then zipped down and began feeding on the
squirrel while some of his friends stood back admiringly. Is this, as a
friend stated, the 'new generation of turkey vultures'? I certainly had
never heard of such a thing before. Has anyone else??

Turkey vulture sightings for the month of July, 1999, in Washington and
British Columbia:

01 -- 1 at Littlerock; 1 at Yale (Fraser River Canyon) and 1 at Harrison
Mills, BC; 7 near the nw end of Ladysmith Harbour, BC; 1 at Echo Lake, BC
02 -- 3 at Shaw Island, one with snake;
03 -- 4 west of Ellensburg; 3 west of Toppenish; 1 at Snoqualmie Pass
04 -- 4 at the Fraser River debris trap, BC; 1 at Samish Island; 3 at
Naramata, BC; 3 at Elwha River Valley, SR112
05 -- 2 at Twin Lakes; 1 on the monthly Squamish, BC, bird census; 1 at
Naramata, BC; 1 at Port Angeles
06 -- 8 just south of Olympia; 11 seen north of the Okanagon River mouth, BC
08 -- 1 east of Agassiz, BC
09 -- 2 at Surrey, BC; 1 at Banks Lake; 5 at Naramata, BC
10 -- 1 at Thurston
11 -- 1 at Peoh Pt, Cle Elum
12 -- 1-2 daily along beach at Gibsons, BC; 1 at Woss BC
13 -- 2 between Chilliwach and Rosedale, BC; 3 at Lantzville, BC
14 -- 1 at Shaw Island; 1 at Striped Peak
15 -- 20 at Enumclaw; 4-5 in the Green River Watershed
16 -- "several" at the Duke Point ferry landing, V.I., BC; 4 at Lantzville,
BC; 1 over Horseshoe Bay; 12 on a drowned snag in Yakima; 1 north of Winthrop
17 -- 14 northeast of Centralia; southeast of Centralia 13 in one tree and
3-4 others in other trees; most were immatures (only one red head); 1 at
Tunk Valley Road; 1 at Woss, BC
18 -- 2 north of Duncan, V.I., BC; 1 near Mill Bay, V.I., BC; 11 at the
Fraser River debris trap, BC; 1 near Hope, BC; 2 at Lake Cameron Road
19 -- 2 between Trail and Castlegar, BC; 1 at Sea Island, BC; 1 north of
Quilcene
22 -- 3 perched between Twin Rivers/Pillar Point on SR112
23 -- 2 at Sequim; 8 at Joyce; 4 at Lantzville, BC "dogfighting" on the
westerly updrafts; 3 at Yale, BC in the Fraser River canyon; 4 at Joyce; 1
west of Port Angeles
25 -- 9 at Sequim, with several of the group on the ground after "tractor
kill"
26 -- 1 at Joyce
27 -- 1 at Purdy; 1 at Joyce; 1 at Striped Peak
29 -- 2 at Yale, BC; 5 at the Fraser River debris trap, BC; 2 at
Lantzville, BC with 2-4 around most days
30 -- 3 south of Longview
31 -- 9 at Shaw Island on a sea kill with two ravens and two bald eagles; 5
at Stanwood, seen circling then later feeding in the field; 1 south of Tanwax

My most sincere thanks, as always, to all of you who spot vultures and
report them. In a few weeks, the migration of many more species will begin
and there will be lots to see when looking up. Reports will be most welcome!

Cheers, Diann

Diann MacRae
Olympic Vulture Study
22622 - 53rd Avenue S.E.
Bothell, WA 98021 USA
tvulture at halcyon.com
Diann MacRae
Olympic Vulture Study
22622 - 53rd Avenue S.E.
Bothell, WA 98021 USA
tvulture at halcyon.com