Hi, Tweets

April is always the longest report. Some vultures are still heading north,
a few are starting to settle down to nesting duties, and the rest, I
suppose, are just getting ready for a nice summer wing-stretch in our
beautiful Pacific Northwest. Your reports are much appreciated.


April 2002 turkey vultures reported in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and
British Columbia

01 1 kettling with a gyr and other raptors over West Vancouver; 2 feeding
on a deer carcass near Gold Beach, Oregon
02 2 over a marsh at the Morse Refuge near Graham; 1 at Cobble Hill, B.C.;
3 at Westholme, B.C.; 2 soaring over large elk herds at the Dean Creek
viewing area on the Umpqua River, Oregon; several soaring over I-5 in Oregon
03 1 near Hwy 410 on Sumner-Buckly Road; 1 at Piper's Lagoon, B.C.; 1 over
Wellington/Hastings, B.C.
04 1 eating something along Hwy 95 north of Moscow, Idaho; 8 soaring over
Chilliwack, B.C.; 7 soaring over the Fraser River near Hope, B.C.; 3 near
the north end of Osoyoos Lake, B.C.; 2 heading north over Kristoferson Lake
on Camano Island
06 5 at Tokeland; 3 west of Montesano; 2 south of Montesano; 14 west of
Elma; 1 near the cliffs off Ha Ha Road near Wardner; 2 over the CP Rail
Yard in Pitt Meadows; 4 at Fort Canby State Park
07 12 over the Brady Loop Road; 1 south of Montesano; 1 soaring over
Gorst; 9 circling the Roslyn exit
08 1 at Black Lake Meadows; 1 at Esquimalt Lagoon, B.C.; 2 in the
Gowlland, B.C.; 2 over Gibsons, B.C.
09 2 at Munson's Pond and 1 at Robert Lake, Kelowna, B.C.
10 2 circling low over downtown Port Coquitlam; 4 circling over the south
fork of the Stilliguamish
11 2 along Hwy 821 south to Yakima
12 3 at Brady; 1 west of Burrows Road near Ocean Shores; 1 at Central
Park, Hwy 12; "abundant" (?) in Skamania/western Klickitat Counties; 1 near
Sequim
13 1 (?) in Pacific County; 3 circling the entrance to the Nisqually NWR;
3 at Castle Rock; 4 north of Kalama; 5 west of Woodland; 3 at Woodland; 4
west of Longview; 2 at Stella along the Columbia River; 5 at Cathlamet; 16
kettling over the Julia Butler Hansen NWR; 3 east of Cathlamet; 7 flying
and perched near Cle Elum; 2 perched with wings extended near Roslyn
14 2 over the Sechelt Peninsula, B.C.; 2 near Cle Elum; 11 near the
Bullfrog exit to Roslyn; 4 east of Ocean City; 3 along the Brady Loop Road;
6 along Bay Center Dike Road, Pacific County; 1 over the Old Vantage
Highway; three over Banks Lake north of Steamboat Rock; 2 at Parksville,
B.C., 3 near Bowser, B.C.; ca a dozen between Courtenay-Campbell River,
B.C.; 1 southbound on Hwy 104
15 9 over Quadra Island, B.C. soaring with 12 bald eagles
17 1 on a windy day east of Minnie Lake, B.C.; 5 at (?) a nice report, but
no site mentioned; 1 east of Snag Island, east of Lake Tapps
19 1 south of Chehalis; 2 west of Camas; 3 at Camas; 6 at Steigerwald NWR;
2 at Mount Pleasant; 1 at Beacon Rock SP; 4 at North Bonneville; 2 flying
west from Moss Lake; 5 on the way to Ocean Shores; 1 in Tofino, B.C.(an
unusual record); 2 east of Morton; 1 west of Mossy Rock
20 1 at Ingalls/Bunker Creek Road; 1 at Waldrick Road; 1 (?) over the
Yakama Indian Reservation; 2 east of Stevenson; 2 at Dog Mountain; 4 at
Rowland Lake; 3 near Balch Lake; 1 at Lyle; 3 north of Wishram; 5 at the
Maryhill Museum; 1 at Towal; 1 near Alderdale; 1 west of Prosser
21 8 in the Ephrata area
22 4 at Brownsmead, Oregon; 1 (?) in the south Okanogan area; 6 east of
Coupeville
23 1 at the Satus WRA; 2 above Rattlesnake Lake (not over the lake, higher
in elevation some snow still on the ground)
24 10 near the Roslyn exit; 2 near Ellensburg; 2 over Manastash Ridge road
25 2 at Bowerman Basin; 1 over Hwy 101/8 heading to Mud Bay; 1 over the
marina at Ocean Shores
26 2 over the Windy Point Campground, Hwy 12/410
27 1 circling north of Littlerock; 2 sitting in a field with some cattle
near Buckley; 2 northeast of Buckley
28 1 heading north from Penn Cove; 1 (?) from the Palouse Audubon field
trip (site unknown); 1 at Lost Lagoon, Stanley Park, B.C.; 2 in Surrey,
B.C.; 1 sailing north from Cleman Mountain at 5,000'
29 2 over Rattlesnake Lake; 1 low over south Everett
30 1 at the Montesano Overpass; 1 flying over Redmond

Thanks to everyone for turkey vulture reports. I try to report back to
everyone who sends reports to me; the rest are gleaned from various
Tweeters trip reports, thus the (?) which means that "turkey vulture" was
included in a long list of species, but no numbers and, occasionally, no
specific location. It's also nice to have a comment about what the birds
were doing; helps make a break from the 1 here, 2 there, reporting.

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/