Hi, Tweets

Vultures have happily returned to nesting duties in the Pacific Northwest.
Thanks, especially, to the many who report vulture behavior, from the
minutia of crows pecking vultures to the various "foods" that people see
turkey vultures inspecting: all of this is quite interesting from a
behavioral standpoint. The Olympic Vulture Study was started as a purely
over-water migration study of a specific group of turkey vultures, but has
evolved into a demographic study for Washington state and the Pacific
Northwest, plus a depository for interesting behavioral characteristics.
More of this is always welcome!! Many thanks.

Turkey Vulture sightings for the month of May 2001 in Washington, British
Columbia, and Oregon:

01 - 1 at Nooksack; 1 near Chilliwack, B.C.; 1 at Reifel Refuge, B.C.; 4 at
Joyce
02 - 1 south of Nooksack; 1 on the ground eating a Rock Chuck northeast of
Prosser
03 - 1 at Corkindale Creek; ca. 3 dozen on a loop south on I-5 to
Vancouver, east on 14, north on 97 to Yakima, west on 12 to 410, then home
(Seattleish)
04 - 1 soaring over I-5 at mp 27; 1 at the Brady Loop Road; 4 soaring over
Rattlesnake Lake
05 - 1 over Rattlesnake Lake; 3 at Toppenish NWR; 1 at Chenois Creek, 1 at
Grass Creek, 3 near Deer Park, all in Grays Harbor County; 10 along the
Brady Loop Road; 3 at the Satsop River Bridge; 10 soaring in the Satsop
area; 2 over the Satsop Bridge at Hwy 12; 3 at Joyce, 1 being harrassed by
a local crow at dawn (!); 3 southeast of Sequim; 3 at Dungeness; 1 west of
Aberdeen; 1 feasting on opossum roadkill near Grayland; one south of
Grayland; 1 near the Tokeland Marina; 2-3 each at Lantzville, Parksville,
Qualicum, Courtenay, Black Creek, and south of Black Creek, B.C.
06 - 1 at the Greenbank Farm, Whidbey Island; 1 over the Brady Loop Road; 1
sitting on a deer near Adams Lake, B.C.; 3 at Rocky Point, near Nanaimo,
B.C.; 2 at Montesano
08 -- 1 over Chambers Lake at Ft. Lewis; 9 west of Nanaimo, B.C.
10 - 1 near Noon/Van Dyk roads in Whatcom County
12 - 3 at Glacial Heritage; 2 at the Brady Loop Road; 1 at Kalama; 1 at
Longview; 2 near the Elwha; 2 west of Brady
13 - 1 near the Port of Kalama; 1 at Kalama; 2 soaring north of Brady; 11
riding a thermal above Corkindale Creek, near Marblemount; 2 over Marblemount
15 - 1 at the Chehalis River Bridge checking out the local osprey
16 - 1 circling ca.100' above the water near Stuart Island; 1 at Joyce
17 - 5 at Brownsmead, Oregon; 1 at the Satsop River Bridge
18 - 1 soaring over the Huntingdon/Sumas area in B.C.; 4 at the north end
of Judson Lake, Abbotsford, B.C; 2 in Fairfax, California
19 - 3 over the mudflats at the Nisqually NWR; 1 at the Woodland Park Zoo,
named Modoc, for the International Migratory Bird Day celebrations; 1 at
Palouse Falls; 1 flying from Spieden Island toward San Juan Island; 2 over
Salt Creek Valley
20 -1 near the Thorpe exit (Ellensburg); 1 in the Umatilla NF east of Walla
Walla; 7 at Ridgefield NWR, 2 near Kalama; 1 at Kress Lake, Cowlitz County;
3 at Graysmarsh, Sequim; 4 soaring over the Humptulips; 1 at Joyce; 1
soaring over Dunsmuir Lodge, V.I., B.C.; 1 west of the Elwha
21 - 1 at Nooksack; "some" at Ft. Lewis; 1 at Joyce; 1 near the Cle Elum
osprey nest; 3 south of Chimacum; 2 soaring over Elgin Heritage Park, B.C.;
2 in Surrey, B.C.
22 - 3 at Duguall Bay; 2 over Stanwood; 1 somewhere (not everyone tells me
where/when/etc.)
23 - 2 soaring along the mountain slopes at Ruby Creek, B.C.; 2 in a
farmer's field at Pitt Meadows, B.C.; 1 at Cheam Lake, B.C.
24 - 1 west of Gibsons, B.C.
25 - 4 near Mt. St. Helens; 1 at the visitor center near Silver Lake
26 - 2 at Cle Elum; 1 near Carnation; a "handful": 3 over the Roslyn
cemetery, ca. 2 near Yakima; 7 in The Dalles near the river soaring and
'playing cormorant'; 11 flying over Lopez near the bluffs, first standing,
then soaring; 1 purposefully flying west south of Littlerock
27 - 3 at the Roslyn exit; 1 at Wenas Campground; 2 at Wenas Lake; 1
northwest of Wenas CG
28 - 8 east of Randle; 1 at Spanaway; 1 at Gibsons, B.C.
29 - 1 soaring high over Eagle Point on San Juan Island; 4 in Cle Elum,
various behaviors commented on plus they were feeding on a dead pigeon; 12
at Brownsmead, Oregon
30 - 4 on log piles at Ruby Creek, B.C.; 10 circling near Rosedale, B.C.; 2
near the water on Gambier Island - one being harrassed by a crow who gave
it a peck
31 - 6 probably feeding on a dead deer between Gibsons and Sechelt, B.C.; 1
over Lougheed Mall, B.C.; "other" turkey vultures were seen in Surrey and
near the Vancouver/Burnaby border.

Thanks again and, please, if you know of nestings, please let me know.

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/