Subject: arriving turkey vultures
Date: Mar 1 09:18:03 1999
From: Diann MacRae - tvulture at halcyon.com


Dear Michael, Michelle, and Tweeters:

Gosh, I guess it's time to start the turkey vulture lists that you all love
so much! :-)

First, thanks to Michael Price, Michelle Blanchard, and Andy Stepniewski
for their recent sightings - each reported a single turkey vulture on
Sunday 28 February and in far different locations: Kitsilano Beach, British
Columbia; Littlerock, west WA, and Lyle in east WA.

This is my eighth year at keeping close records of turkey vultures'
comings, goings, and anything else anyone tells me about them. It seems,
from reports I have received, that February is the "vanguard" month. I
have scattered reports during December and January, but I am assuming
these are overwintering or wandering birds; some areas have rather regular
groups of wintering vultures, but in very small numbers <10. By February,
I (again) assume these are the early arrivals. Sauvie Island, Clackamas
County, and Salem, in Oregon, all reported turkey vultures ~February 1st;
on 6 Feb one was seen near Monmouth, Oregon with "a general movement
expected within the next week or so." These sightings could be early
arrivals or overwinterers - who knows, except possibly those routinely
observing in those areas.

On 22 Feb, I received my first sighting from the Puget Sound area: Kevin
Li reported one turkey vulture on the Samish Flats. By now, small groups
of turkey vultures (along with the tree swallows!) were heading up the
Willamette Valley in Oregon. The three sightings from yesterday were
certainly northward-bound vultures.

But Michael Price is also correct in his average arrival date of early
April. The majority of vultures seem to arrive in groups from late March
through mid-April. I've never had the funds to do a spring watch at our
fall raptor monitoring site, but the locals tell us that turkey vultures
do, indeed, congregate in much the same area before tackling the strait and
heading to Canada.

So, keep looking up - vultures, Swainson's hawks, and ferruginous hawks are
all on their way!

Cheers, Diann

Diann MacRae
Bothell
tvulture at halcyon.com