Lonnie,

I expect I saw the same "kettle" of birds you saw. I saw a flock of ~44
Turkey Vultures rising on thermals in "kettle" formation, then gliding
south. The birds I saw were a bit north of you in West Seattle - flying
south over about 9000 14th Ave SW and SW Henderson St, west of Westcrest
Park, and a bit earlier than what you reported. I think it was a bit
before 2pm. I got a good look at them with binoculars, and all were
definitely Turkey Vultures, as I was able to see their light colored flight
feathers and dark wing coverts, as well as the red heads. It was not easy
to see the "dihedral" V-shape for the wings, nor did I see any rocking. I
also noted 2 Turkey Vultures flying south over West Seattle a day or two
earlier. The relatively large flock had me checking the range maps to see
how much further north they now live. The map I checked had them going 1/3
- 1/2 the way up British Columbia.

-Stewart Wechsler
West Seattle
www.stewardshipadventures.com

Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2016 14:57:21 -0700
> From: Lonnie Somer <mombiwheeler at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Tweeters] Large kettle of large birds ID question
> To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Message-ID:
> <CAArM=Z2M26x2fK1Gu6_R_4EB5gkNtDAs2Bhm=9RAxhRgSm-M_A at
> mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Hi Tweeters,
>
>
> I was birding on the Highline College campus in Des Moines around 2:15 this
> afternoon when I spotted a large kettle of birds quite a distance away to
> the north, probably not far from the Sound's coast (hard to be certain).
> Combined, they were in a very loosely formed egg-shaped formation, with
> some toward the top, the majority in the middle, and a smaller amount at
> the bottom. I estimated that there were at least 50 birds. They were too
> far away for me to see any specific details, but they were shaped like
> Red-tailed Hawks with broad wings and relatively short, broad tails, and
> the size seemed about right. They were definitely not crows, gulls, or
> Turkey Vultures. They were all riding a thermal higher and higher, mostly
> soaring, but some would occasionally rapidly flap to gain some altitude.
> I watched them for about 5 minutes until they drifted out of sight. So my
> question is this: is it possible that they were a very large group of
> Red-tailed Hawks (or maybe even a mixed flock of hawks) that were gaining
> altitude to cross the water? I had never seen anything quite like this and
> really wished that I had my scope with me. Thanks.
>
>
> Lonnie Somer
>
> Seattle
> mombiwheeler at gmail.com


> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2016 16:01:39 -0700
> From: Lonnie Somer <mombiwheeler at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Tweeters] mystery kettle of Des Moines birds, part 2
> To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>
> Hi again,
>
> Ryan Merrill pointed out that big groups of Turkey Vultures have been seen
> migrating through in the past few days. It does seem much more likely to
> be that species than a kettle of hawks. They did not appear to me to be
> holding their wings in a dihedral manner or rocking as they soared, but
> perhaps because of the distance I just couldn't make these out. In any
> event, if anyone else in Tweetersville sees something similar, can you post
> it? Thanks,
>
> Lonnie Somer
> Seattle
> mombiwheeler at gmail.com
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