[va-bird] vulture & phoebe nests & more migrants

This morning I saw a PIED-BILLED GREBE on one of the ponds and also had a 
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, my first of the season.
I finally had an opportunity this evening to climb back down to where I found 
the vulture nest to get some photographs. In my haste I stupidly forgot to 
bring a tape measure, so I still cannot supply measurements, but the general 
opinion of all who kindly responded, which I am sure is correct, has been that 
it is a Turkey Vulture nest. I have never seen Black Vultures land in this part 
of the property, and yet several times I have flushed Turkey Vultures, so 
reason says the nest belongs to them. But on this my second visit there were 
still just unguarded eggs. I did get pictures which show two white eggs with 
chestnut blotches (more blotches at the larger end) and plenty of droppings and 
other signs around the site. I also found what I think is an older vulture nest 
50 feet away, in a shallow cave, which may have been abandoned because it was 
easier for predators to reach than this new site.

Since I had gone to the trouble to bring the camera down a steep cliff I 
thought I would try to get pictures of the phoebe nest I knew to be hanging 
below one of the rock outcroppings. When I approached it the phoebe flew away 
and sat on a branch over my head, silently, flipping its tail. I was just able 
to let myself down with a grape vine to the level of the nest, which was 
cleverly attached to a small projection below a much larger rock shelf, and 
shove the camera far enough over to snap a few pictures as far away as I could 
reach. I could barely make out 4 pure white eggs in the nest. The nest is so 
well constructed and protected beneath the cliff that I believe it has been in 
use for many years.

There were quite a few warblers in the same area: BLACK-THROATED GREEN, 
CERULEAN, BLACK-AND-WHITE, REDSTART, WORM-EATING, OVENBIRD,  and HOODED. I also 
had a male PURPLE FINCH at the feeders yesterday.

Father John Sebastian
Blue Ridge Parkway
Franklin County
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