Hi, Tweets

Here are the rest of the September reports plus just a few of our big days
at Salt Creek this fall.

Turkey vultures reported in Washington and British Columbia, second half of
September, 2002:

03 - 9 above the tideflats of the Warm Beach area - all adults
08 - 1 over Mt. Vernon
09 - 4 at the Samish Flats
10 - 1 north of Vancouver (WA)
11 - 18-20 heading south over Ridgefield NWR; 51 at the Rocky Point Bird
Observatory
13 - 2 migrants over North Vancouver, B.C.
14 - 1 flying low near Marine Drive/Bancroft Road; 7 kettling north of Stanwood
15 - 90+ over the Rocky Point Bird Observatory
17 - 1 at Black Mountain, B.C.; 15 roosting in cottonwoods near Kelowna
18 - 14 near Springdale, Stevens County, roosting at 10am because of low
fog; 2 near Orient, Ferry County; 5 over farm fields near Chehalis; 1 over
the Toutle River; 3 at Fir Island
20 - 2 at the Nisqually NWR; 4 near Hansville; 3 circling over Queen Anne;
309 at Salt Creek
21 - 3 circling over New Westminster, B.C.; 3 soaring over a field between
Raymond and Pe Ell; 33 wandering around, feeding, preening, and
resting near where the Klickitat River meets the Columbia; 22 circling
south over Seattle; 3 soaring over Sinclair Island (singles on previous
days on the island)
22 - 7 staged at Cattle Point on San Juan Island; 1 circling over Douglas
College, New Westminster, B.C.; 2 at Stanwood working their way north; 2
near Coquitlam, B.C.; 9 soaring over mudflats on the Tokeland Peninsula; 2
migrating over Colony Farm R.P., Coquitlam, B.C.; 518 at Salt Creek
23 - 1 over the Tokeland mudflats; 204 at Salt Creek
24 - 2 flying around Anacortes; 1 over Point Roberts; 271 at Salt Creek
27 - 1 cruising through Haney, B.C.; ca. 24 over the University District; 3
kettling high in the sky over Littlerock; 541 at Salt Creek
28 - 1 over Elma; 1 low over the Brady Loop area; 4 circling together near
the Brady Loop area; 1 soaring over Washaway Beach
29 - 9 heading south over Ballard; 3 circling low near Discovery Bay; 1
over the nw mudflats of the Tokeland Peninsula
30 - 4 cruising in different directions near Satus Longhouse Road/Hwy 22; 1
in the Dry Creek area of the Yakama Reservation; 2 over the Tokeland
mudflats; 619 at Salt Creek

It's always a mystery to me how we can see hundreds come into the park but
in the ensuing days very few large kettles are ever reported. Do they
really break up that much, do they fly really high (I don't think so), or
are they like most birds, if we're not looking, they are by in no time -
even big ones like vultures.

Thanks, as always, for your reports. They are still migrating, so look up!!

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/