East and southeast winds Saturday and southwest winds Sunday, coupled with
very mild temperatures, brought good flights over the weekend, March 11 & 12,
past College Creek Hawkwatch, on the James River near Williamsburg. The
previous daily record, over 9 years, for Black Vultures was 19 and the season
record was 71, so Tom Armour, Bill Williams and I were quite surprised that
the
weekend total was an amazing 57 Black Vultures, 50 of those coming on March
11. The season total for that species now stands at 80.
There were also 62 Turkey Vultures, some Opsreys, Red-taileds and a Cooper's
Hawk, for an excellent 2-day total of 129. Butterflies were frequently seen
flying out over the water as well.
Brian Taber
Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory