Hi, Tweets

September is the big migration month for turkey
vultures over the Pacific Northwest. While
looking for those migrating passerines, be sure
to look up to check for lovely, soaring turkey
vultures. Large flocks occasionally pass over
Seattle and the surrounding areas. Following is
the August report for Washington, Oregon, and Britich Columbia:

01* ? 1 over Steep Point on Orcas Island; 1 over
Gold Creek; 1 at Rattlesnake Ridge; 1 at
Corkindale; 11 in a tree near Winthrop; 5
harvesting dead rodents in a newly mown hay field in downtown Littlerock
03 ? 1 over McMinnville, Oregon; 4 soaring over Spirit Mountain Casino, Oregon
05 ? 13 riding thermals south down the Willamette Valley, Oregon
06 ? 3 over Fir Island; 3 feeding on road kill at
West Sound; 3 over Eastsound town; 1 at Duvall
07 ? 1 flying over the Black River
09 ? 1 over southwest Portland, Oregon; 1
juvenile by road south of Bellingham (had been
hit by a car and was taken to a rehab center, but
finally died of a badly broken wing.)
10 ? 1 trying for a dead squirrel on Hollywood Hill
13 ? 7 from I-5 between Woodburn and Albany,
Oregon; 3 with a bald eagle feeding on a deer carcass on Steep Point
14 ? 2 (1 adult with wing tag and 1 young) over east Fidalgo Island
15 ? several at Marblemount Hatchery
16 ? 1 circling the Theler wetlands; 15 circling
south north of Tenino; 1 sitting on a sign at Midway Beach
17 ? 13 between Albany and Lebanon, Oregon
18 ? 1 over the Dike Trail at Nisqually
20 ? 2 soaring over Deer Harbor
21 ? 4 riding a ridge near Cama; 2 north of Dallas, Oregon
25 ? 1 sailing past Vista St Clair, Oregon
26 ? 6 + 2 ravens working over a dead elk calf
near Snoqualmie; 2 at Active Pass, Galiano
Island, BC; 2 at Elk Lake, Saanich, BC; 5 at Sooke Basin, BC
27 ? 4 feeding on the remains of the elk carcass;
11 kettling over North Bend; on a trip to Grays
Harbor there were turkey vultures ?along the way;? 1 south of Grays Harbor
28 ? 1 soaring low over Portland; 3 south of
Anatone; 2 at Sooke Basin, BC; 2 soaring over Active Pass, Galiano Island, BC
29 ? 3 near Takhlakh Lake near Randal; 5 over Bethel Ridge
31 ? 10 in various trees near the bike path
Stillwater/Carnation; 18 seen circling above the same trees later on

Thanks for the great reports. It's always good to
hear about the interesting things the vultures are doing.

*On the first, some of the sightings were from
July 30-31 that didn?t get on the July report.

Cheers, Diann

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