Hi, Tweets

Here is the September turkey vulture report - including lots of neat flocks
here and there across the area. These guys don't quit until mid-October, so
don't stop looking up!

Turkey vultures reported from British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and for
this month, Idaho, too, for September 2001:

01 -- 2 at Mt. Young, above Garrison Bay on San Juan Island; 9 in Grays
Harbor County, mile posts 11-15; 1 at Duck Lake Drive, Ocean Shores; 3 near
Rialto Beach in the early evening; 11 soaring over the May Valley side of
Cougar Mountain
02 -- 1 at the Smokey Point exit, Marysville; 17 in two loose groups near
Snug Harbor, San Juan Island; 14 over Harrison Flats in northern Idaho; 1
over Pt. Lawrence on Orcas Island
03 -- 1 at Jensen's Access; 15-20 at a dead Black Angus carcass near the
Julia Hansen NWR - most were adults with a few juveniles; ca. 6 elsewhere
on Puget Island; 1 soaring over Railroad Bridge Park; 18 circling high over
fields near Chimacum
05 -- 1 in eastern Yakima County
06 -- 1 over Fir Island, Skagit County; 1 soaring over fields east of
Stanwood; 11 over Pumphouse Road (Sunnyside?); 4 northwest of Boston Bar, B.C.
07 -- 1 over the Satus WRA; 1 at Gibsons, B.C. (also there on the 5th/6th);
4 along Hwy 12 (2 in Lewis County/2 in Grays Harbor County)
08 -- 1 over a train at North Bend, B.C.; 1 west of Elma; "a few" at
Ridgefield NWR; 5 near North Bend; 5 west of Cle Elum; 2 soaring low and
south over Alice Bay
09 -- 27 kettling over Toppenish NWR plus 5 on the ground; 5 ten miles east
of Snoqualmie Pass;
3 at Nisqually NWR; 1 at Johnson Ridge Observatory, Mt. St. Helens; 1 along
the Toutle River; 8 at Mayer SP, Oregon; 2 at Madras, Oregon; 1 at Pilot
Rock, Oregon; 1 over Winthrop; 2 southeast of Blanchard; 4 north of Boston
Bar, B.C.
10 -- 10 over Cattle Point on San Juan Island for a week or so; 6+ around
Mt. Young; 6+ soaring over San Juan Valley near Valley Farms Road (most
have been around all summer); 3 north of Boston Bar, B.C.
11 -- 5 at Malheur NWR, Oregon
12 -- 3 at P Ranch, Oregon
13 -- 1 at Wright's Point, Oregon
14 -- 1 flying over the treetops near Glacial Heritage; 3 along Hwy 12
(Lewis County); 1 at Ukiah-Dale campground, Oregon; 1 over the Microsoft
campus in Bellevue
15 -- 1 at Hoquiam STP; 4 at Tokeland; 1 at Brady Loop Road; 1 near
Montesano; 1 east of Montesano; 6 overhead at Blaine headed south
16 -- 11 over open fields of Brady Loop Road ; "3 or 4" at Timberwolf
Mountain; "turkey vultures were conspicuous migrants during the week"
through Oregon; 15 feeding on a deer carcass on the bank of the Fraser
River near Hope, B.C.; 6 sitting on the shore of Matsqui Island picking
over a dead salmon; 8 on Crescent Island working on a large salmon carcass
17 -- 1 at the Astoria Airport wetland
18 -- 1 over I-90 northwest of Sprague; 1 soaring near Fourth of July Pass,
east of Coeru d'Alene, Idaho; 1 soaring over the lower Elwha
19 -- 1 soaring north of Bonner's Ferry, Idaho; 1 soaring very high over
Discovery Bay
21 - 4 over the Chinook Valley, Pacific County; 6 near the Duke Point ferry
terminal, Nanaimo, B.C., appeared to be south bound (waiting for the
ferry?); 2 over Marymoor Park; 7 between Princeton and Headly
22 -- 1 over Maple Ridge, B.C.; 14 just north of Stanwood; 1 at Slate Peak
(!!); 1 at Elgin Heritage Park in Surrey, B.C.; 1 near the Satsop nuclear
plant; 1 west of Crocker Lake; 1 near Mount Vernon; about the last date
seen for the group seen all summer in Lantzville, B.C.; 1 east of Oliver
23 -- 9 riding thermals over the UW then heading south, single file; 1 at
Willband Creek Park, B.C.; 3 along Angus Campbell Road, B.C.; 1 at Baldy
Pass, Okanogan County; 1 soaring west of Cle Elum; 1 seen over Hungry
Junction Road, Ellensburg; 20 soaring/floating south over Reecer Canyon
24 -- 8 over South Surrey; 11 circling over a field northwest of Mabton; 1
at Quilcene; 1 at Lords Lake northwest of Quilcene
25 -- 5 (appeared to be 2 adults/3 immatures) lifted out of the forest on
top of Perego's Bluff flying to a thermal over Ebey's Prairie, then
east-southeast; 2 in Gardner, Jefferson County
26 -- 1 at Cameron Lake Road, Okanogan County; 2 at 2910 Kulm, ? (east of
the mountains); 3 over Everson city park; 1 in the Port Kells/Langley area,
B.C.; 10 over a backyard (not sure where); 2 in Yakima County: Plank Road
near Hwy 22 and over Hwy 22
27 -- 3 over the Brady Loop Road; 6-7 at Lilly Point Reef, Point Roberts; 1
over North Seattle heading south; 7 in a tight thermal over the UW; 12
heading south over the south slope of Cougar Mountain in Bellevue; 6
downriver from Snohomish, possibly 3 more in a tree
28 -- 13 drifting south east of Woodinville, in and out of fog; 13 kettling
above Lacey; 9 emerged from a kennel and glided south, north of Stanwood;
80 circling over Crofton, Vancouver Island, B.C. then drifting south; 30 at
Brinnon, possibly using the Dosewallips (and other river mouths) as a
roosting area; 6 soaring over the Arlington Airport; 13 circling over the
Snoqualmie Valley, flew to ca. 1,000 feet, then glided southward; 30 doing
slow circles near the state capitol; 1 near Tokeland; 15 at the south end
of Lopez Island; 5 at San Juan Island
29 -- 42 crossing the reach (?) in a long line flying down the shore of
Drayton Passage; 1 over Buckley; 35 near Lilly Point Reef feeding on or
around a seal carcass; 2 over Easton; 1 east of Easton; 1 near Cle Elum
30 -- 6 with a Cooper's hawk flying south over Jetty Island; 4 over Federal
Way; 10 over Juanita circling, then drifting eastward; 1 just west of
Ritzville; 3 at the mouth of Hunter Creek in Hope, B.C.; 7 east of Sultan;
7 over Surrey, B.C.; 1 at 15th & Vine in Vancouver, B.C.; 62 overhead at
Point Roberts; 3 (possibly more) north of Allyn, Mason County; 4 near
Squamish Harbor on Hood Canal, stopped in a tree for ca. 15 minutes, then
headed south

A good showing for the month, and many thanks to all who spotted migrating
flocks. It was painful not to be at Salt Creek this year, but the birds are
still coming. One small flock of 22 near Salt Creek already this month. You
will note that whether crossing the strait, as our records over nine years
indicate, or flying far inland, this last week in September is prime time.
Early October should be good, too.

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