Hi, Tweets

As always, thanks so much for the turkey vulture reports, especially those
with comments about what they are doing. As you can tell by the numbers (if
you read this) the kids have fledged and have joined their parents on the
wing - a neat sight.

Turkey vultures reported to Tweeters from Washington, British Columbia, and
Oregon during July of 2001:

01 - 1 soaring at ca. 4500' at the west side of Mount Rainier NP; 8 in a
freshly mown hayfield on Seabird Island, B.C. (east of Agassiz); 1 working
a hay field while it was being mowed at Harrison Mills, B.C.; 1 flying over
another hayfield near Lake Errock, B.C.; 1 soaring at the south end of
Lopez Island; 5 at Molson Road, Okanogan County; 1 at Mission Creek; 1
cruising around the beach west of Gibsons, B.C.
02 - 1 (?) at Nicolai Mountain, Oregon; 9 soaring with 2 redtails at
Ridgefield NWR; 1 adult at the north end of the Columbia NWR (rare in
summer); 17 standing on a sandbar at the mouth of the Klickitat River; 1 at
US2/SR17, Douglas County; 2 east of Cle Elum; 1 at MP 80/I-90; 2 south of
Tillamook, Oregon
03 - 9 soaring over Easton Ridge either alone or in groups of 2 or 3
04 - 2 near Lantzville, B.C. seen most days, also others in the immediate
area; 2 at Randle; 2 east of Morton; 1 sanitary engineer circling in the
high wind east of Sequim; 1 south of Tillamook, Oregon; 1 near Horseshoe
Bay, B.C.
05 - 1 slightly above tree top level at the north entrance to the Whidbey
Naval Air Station; 2 near the Debris Trap, B.C.; 1 between Saddle Rock and
Spuzzum, B.C.; 1 above the west side of Blakely Island; 1 adult west of
Gibsons, B.C.
06 - 1 east of Bellingham; 2 in northern Whatcom County
07 - 3 flying over Greenwater; 1 near the south end of Lopez Island; 1 at
MP109, Klickitat County; 16 at the mouth of the Klickitat River (my
goodness, all but one still standing there?); 4 east of Bickleton; 8 at
intersection SR14/SR97; 1 at the mouth of the White Salmon River; 2 at
Agassiz, B.C.; 1 over Gibsons (?) airport; 2 along the beach west of
Gibsons, B.C.
08 - 1 at Duley Lake in the Okanogan; 2 at North Bonneville Dam; 3 west of
Camas; 8 at River S Unit, Ridgefield NWR; 1 on Level Road (north of the Old
Sunset Highway)
09 - 3 near the South Jetty of the Columbia
11 - 27 at Bingen Pond, Klickitat County; 1 over Benton City
12 - 1 at Gower Point, B.C
13 - 1 flying low southwest of Littlerock; 1 at Gower Point, B.C.
14 - 1 at Ocean Shores; 1 flying over the west end of Spieden Island; 1 on
a carcass west of the Magellan Tunnels, B.C.; 5 over the Debris Trap near
Ruby Creek, B.C.; 1 at Haig, B.C.; 1 at Gower Point, B.C.
15 - 4 in the Hope Fraser Valley, B.C.; 1 at Hoquiam STP; 9 at the Brady
Loop Road; 1 north of Bellingham; 1 flying along the east shore of Cypress
Island; 1 circling the house south of Littlerock
16 - 1 circling a recently harvested wheat field west of Spokane (they seem
to have a fixation on wheat/hay fields); 1 in Spokane County, 1 in Lincoln
County (both from I-90); 20 (many hatch year birds) near the Prairie
Channel Dike, Brownsmead, Oregon; 1 over Boston Bar, B.C.
17 - 2 near the Orcas ferry landing
18 - 2 at Rooster Rock SP, Oregon; 4 (2 adults, 2 juveniles) in northern
Whatcom County
21 - 2 sitting in a mowed field at Steigerwald Lake NWR (hayfield?); 12
near the Brady Loop Road; 1 circling over Damon Point, Ocean Shores; 1 a
MP15/Hwy109; 1 west of McCleary; 1 east of Mud Bay
19 - 2 over the west end of Spieden Island
20 - 1 over Pearl Island (Roche Harbor)
21 - 1 flying from Orcas towards Shaw Island
22 - 15 near the Brady Loop Road; 14 near Tokeland; 5 at Satsop; 2 east of
Elma; 17 south of Burnaby Mountain, B.C.
23 - "some" near Leadbetter Point; 3 flying west along the ridgeline
southwest of Littlerock; 1 near Discovery Bay; 1 west of Port Angeles
24 - 5 near Clallam Bay; 1 flapping strongly southwest of Littlerock; 10
over the Greater Vancouver Game Farm, Aldergrove, B.C.
26 - a dead something at the southernmost end of Lummi Island attracted a
Raven, an adult Turkey Vulture, 3 immature and 2 adult bald eagles, and a
second raven . . . plus a coyote!!; 1 flying alongside Upright Head, Lopez
Island; 2 at Dugalla Bay, first perched then flying; 1 at Gower Point, B.C.
27 - 2 at the Astoria Airport Mitigation Bank, Oregon; 1 adult in northern
Whatcom County; 1 adult near Van Buren/Lindsey Roads, Whatcom County; 3
west of Joyce
28 - 4 at Tokeland; 3 at Bottle Beach; 1 at John's River; 2 at Bowerman
Basin; 1 at Grass Creek Road; 9 at Montesano; 13 at the Brady Loop Road
area; 13 birds in a kettle at the Satsop River Bridge; 1 over Portage
Island; 1 over Obstruction Island; 30 just north of the Alcoa plant south
of Birch Bay attracted to a dead cow: 12 in a tree, 12 on the power tower
above the carcass, 4 on the carcass, and 4 flying around (maybe more!); 1
south of Blaine
29 - 1 north of Stanwood; 3 on Fir Island Road; 2 on Bayview-Edison Road; 1
on Samish Island Road; 1 north of Stanwood; 1 over the Cactus Islands; 1
near Cle Elum; 1 near MP 72/I90
30 - 1 lilting on the wind fifty feet over the ground southwest of
Littlerock; 4 immatures over the Nisqually NWR
31 - 1 at Umtanum Road; 3 over Obstruction Island

Migration isn't far away. Turkey vultures meander about while the young are
getting their flight instructions and time in, but early in September the
first southward movements are often noted, swelling to impressive numbers
by the end of the month. Thanks again to all.

Cheers, Diann
___________________________
Diann MacRae
Olympic Vulture Study
22622 - 53rd Avenue S.E.
Bothell, WA 98021
mailto: tvulture at halcyon.com
http://www.halcyon.com/tvulture/