Hi, Tweets

Happy Cinco de Mayo! No huge numbers of vultures
arriving, but they are on schedule, datewise.
Spring numbers are always smaller, of course. I
can?t imagine that turkey vultures are enjoying
this weather any more than we are. The following
are the sightings for April 2011 in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia.

02 ? 3 in Spanaway; 1 over the Duwamish Head; 2
at the Brady Loop; 15 at Freshwater Bay near Salt
Creek plus many more during the day; 4 circling
near Scotts Lake; 1 at Rocky Prairie; 8 loosely
kettle-gliding south of Port Angeles; 51 heading
northward at Kennedy Creek estuary (the same
pathway that ~70 had taken in the fall)
03 ? 3 circling southeast of Sequim; 1 over
Joseph Whidbey SP + 4 more from another observer;
1 over Wallace Swamp Creek Park, Kenmore; 1 at Discovery Park
04 ? 1 over Workman Creek Road
05 ? 3 riding a ridge over Camas; 3 in Montesano; 2 over Portland, Oregon
06 ? 4 over Bellingham; 3 staking out a dead
?possum near Bellingham; 1 heading north near Everett
07 ? 15 on Orcas Island
08 ? 4 over Agnew; 1 over I-5 at exit S319
09 ? 1 sailing past Portland; 3 over the
Skokomish Delta; 14 soaring over North Bend
10 ? 3 in Clallam County; 4 at Oak Harbor, ?several? over Coupeville
11 ? 1 over W. Burnside in Portland
12 ? 2 soaring over Forest Grove, Oregon; 1 at
Steigerwald Lake; 12 just west of Hope, British Columbia
13 ? 3 in Manson
16 ? 4 circling over a calving field on the Old Olympic Hwy; 1 over Portland
17 ? 1 over Burnt Hill, SE of Sequim; 1 being
chased by a crow at Quartermaster Harbor, Vashon
Island; 1 at Kittitas; 1 over Ellensburg
18 ? 1 at I-5 turnoff to Semiahmoo; 1 over the Black Lake/Black River Valley
20 ? 3 headed north over Bainbridge Island
21 ? 18 drifting past the Olympic Discover
Bridge; 1 over east Ridgefield NWR; 1over I-5
south of Ridgefield NWR; 1 heading north over West Rocky Prairie WA
22 ? 1 at SE Wahkiakum County
23 ? 1 at Alger
24 ? ?lots? near Ainsworth at the Columbia River Gorge; 1 at Mud Lake
26 ? 3 over Portland
28 ? 1 over the Edmonds Bowl
29 ? 1 on the way to Ocean Shores; 1 in Hoquiam; 4 at Aberdeen; 1 in Rochester
30 ? 3 over King?s Hill in Portland; 1 circling
over Kent and heading south; 1 at Aberdeen

I?d love to be able to go out to Salt Creek and
chart the spring migration. Many say they do take
off from that area and nearby. Seems many come in
early April ? or that?s when there are more
observers! Thanks for all of the sightings.

Cheers, Diann

Diann MacRae
Olympic Vulture Study
22622 - 53rd Avenue S.E.
Bothell, WA 98021
tvulture at vei.net