(Apologies for missing September reports - I didn't start following this until October)

10/7/03
TUVU bonanza downtown Seattle

• This morning at 0955 I turned to reach into a cabinet behind me and looked out the window at a sky full of Turkey Vultures drifting past the buildings west and southwest of my office in downtown Seattle. I grabbed the binoculars I keep in my desk and got a decent look at them when they sailed into a clear area over lower buildings. There were at least 55 and probably more that were blocked from view. It looked like they were taking advantage of the updrafts off the buildings at the waterfront.
  

Ruth Taylor     Seattle/Ballard     rutht@seanet.com

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10/9/03
Turkey Vultures Yesterday!

• Yesterday between 4:15 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. I counted at least 60 Turkey Vultures headed south between 124th Street and Woodinville along the Woodinville Redmond Road (hwy 202).  Some were high but many were very low.  It was a treat seeing them above me through the sunroof. The largest group was about 25 birds kettling just south of the Columbia Winery and Redhook.  Most were in groups of 4 or 8 with several pairs noted.
• Further north, on highway 9, I saw another 8 very low above a group of trees on 164th in Clearview (about 7 miles north of Woodinville).

Cathy Wise     Snohomish, WA     cathy.wise@attws.com

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10/9/03
More TVs

• I had about 25 Turkey Vultures in Issaquah yesterday over the junction of SR900 and Newport Way.
  

Mike Blue     Renton,Wa     miblu@u.washington.edu

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10/10/03
Turkey Vultures, NW Portland

• On this morning's dogwalk I saw a kettle of 50 TURKEY VULTURES over NW Seblar Terrace. This is 49 more than I see on a good day.  It also seems quite late in the year.

Wink Gross     Portland

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10/10/03
Many TV's over Everett

• On Wednesday afternoon October 8, between 1 and 3 p.m., Snohomish County government biologists who are also birders observed from their downtown office windows more than 150 turkey vultures kettling near (notice that I said "near"(smile) the Rucker Hill neighborhood which overlooks Port Gardner from the southeast. Although sightings have definitly been increasing these past few years, this is the first time to my knowledge that any of us have seen anything more than a few in one group during migration (or maybe anytime)in this Puget Sound County.

Darrell Smith     Principal Habitat Biologist     Snohomish County Dept. of Public Works
darrell.smith@co.snohomishwa.us

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10/10/03
Turkey Vulture report for Sept/Oct

The Salt Creek monitoring project went well, but with extreme fog on the strait for many days of the count, numbers were down.  No worry - they evidently got over just fine, sooner or later. Our flights were all in September even though I was there until the 7th of October.  One wonders if the island groups join with the mainland migrants.  I've always thought they meandered down, for the most part, west of Seattle, but evidently not this year.

Following is the report for September and early October, 2003 from British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon:

September

• 01 - 11 over the Monte-Brady Loop Road, 1 in central Washington; 2 roosting in a tree at the Casimer Bar Wetland
• 02 - 7 circling near Columbia Lake north of Cranbrook, B.C.
• 06 - a noticably heavy movement south of Bandon, Oregon; 14 at the Cowlitz Trout Hatchery; 2 at Green Mt. Mill; 3 at I-5/MP65
• 07 - 10-12 flew from the trees near the Lower Elwha River
• 08 - 3 working along an escarpment above the Fraser River at Haney, B.C.; 4 near Maupin, Oregon
• 09 - 12 soaring over north Nanaimo, B.C.; 2 south of the Chehalis River Bridge
• 10 - 3 sitting on fence posts near Princeton, Oregon
• 11 - 49 migrating along ridges near South Prairie; 2 along the Fraser River near old Port Haney, B.C.; 7 between Joyce and Port Angeles; 2 south of Frenchglen, Oregon
• 12 - 2 at Pitt Lake, B.C.; 40+ at Malheur NWR (18 on the "P" Ranch tower)
• 13 - 2 at Wenatchee Confluence SP; 3 near Blewett Pass/Table Mountain; 2 at the Chehalis WA; 2 at Langley, B.C.; 2 over Mount Vernon; 2 over Fir Island; 40 at Heffley Creek north of Kamloops, B.C.; 7 sitting in a field outside John Day, Oregon; 2 flying over Ukiah-Dale campground, Oregon
• 14 - 14 over south Penticton, B.C.; 4 at Campbell River, B.C.; 12 on the Samish Flats; 7 at the West 90; 10 still in the Kamloops area; 2 hovering over a road kill in Surrey, B.C.
• 15 - 16 over Steigerwald Lake; 2 in the Grant Narrows area, B.C.
• 16 - 6 south of Stanwood; 2 over Gower Point, B.C.; "many" at Garden Bay, Pender Harbour, B.C.
• 17 - 3 over the mouth of Wilson Creek, B.C.; 2 at Gibsons, B.C.
• 19 - 3 kettling with a bald eagle east of Porter; 2 adults and 1 immature in trees at Adna; 2 at Joyce
• 20 - 24 above Queen Anne Hill; 3 south of Eatonville; 2 at Joyce
• 21 - 353 at Salt Creek
• 24 - 88 at Salt Creek
• 25 - 4 flying north over Moses Lake; 4 over the Humptulips River
• 26 - 6 over Leavenworth; 410 at Salt Creek
• 27 - 5 flying east over Spencer Island; 2 soaring over a ridge west of Leavenworth; 140 at Salt Creek
• 28 - 2 still soaring over the Leavenworth ridge; 22 over Volunteer Park in Seattle; 31 at Salt Creek
• 29 - 50 over Joyce
• 30 - 174 at Salt Creek

October

• 01 - 13 over Kelly Peak
• 02 - 3 over Kelly Peak
• 03 - 8 over the Maury Island golf course; 2 near MP25/I-90?
• 04 - 25 over the Dosewallips area
• 05 - 35 over Victoria, B.C.; 3 over Snoqualmie Pass
• 06 - 2 adults struggling to find thermals over Pitt Meadows, B.C.; 200 heading south over Camano Island; 20 over downtown Everett
• 07 - 14 circling over Ballard; 4 about 100' up over downtown Edmonds; 55 sailing over buildings near the waterfront in downtown Seattle; 50+ over Safeco Field and 50-75 over the Federal Building (perhaps all the same birds, perhaps not, depending on time/location; 7 kettling over Camano SP; 2 east of Monroe; 20 over Everett; 150-200 circling low with ca. 25-50 that had landed in trees or circled the estuary - Schel-chelb Estuary, Bainbridge Island
• 08 - 11 heading south over Golden Gardens Park; 118 flying low and following a tree line of sorts near the Snohomish River Bridge in Everett; 32 over Everett; 20 over Everett (all separate groups); 25 over Issaquah; 4 over Eastgate making like shearwaters over swells; 3 west of Southcenter at treetop level; 60+ between Woodinville and Redmond; 8 north of Woodinville (probably over my house while I worked on the computer!); 6 over Northgate; 150 over the Snohomish County government buiildings in Everett (probably the same as in the other report since the time is similar)
• 09 - 14 over Trader Joe's in Issaquah; 7 flying one after the other over Rosedale near Gig Harbor; 35+ at MP92/I-5; 20+ at MP95/I-5; 8 north of MP97/I-5
• 10 - 50 kettling over NW Seblar Terrace in Portland, Oregon;

Diann MacRae     Olympic Vulture Study     Bothell, WA 98021
Tvulture       tvulture@vei.net

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