But, what do they eat? Sheep kills by coyotes in the Willamette Valley are
a potential source as are still-born or weak lambs.
But how many vultures can those feed? Ranchers likely won't tolerate large
numbers of kills. I've seen them walking through
recently mowed fields, apparently looking for small rodents killed by the
mower. But how much food can that provide?
There is a roost somewhere near me so that I have anywhere from 2 to 20
vultures soaring around a cliff every afternoon
in season. None in winter so far. What are these guys/gals eating?
Do OBOLers have experience with feeding TVs? Clearly they are eating
something.
Bob OBrien Carver OR
PS I once saw a Turkey in Ft. McMurray Alberta, pretty far north. But
eBird shows several records for the Prudhoe Bay area!
At least up there they would find wolf or bear kills.
On Thu, Sep 2, 2021 at 1:50 AM larspernorgren <larspernorgren@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Turkey Vultures in Saskatchewan, their northernmost breeding ground
anywhere, winter in Venezuela. This knowledge is the result of a
banding/marking program similar to the Redtails at PDX. I've noted large
numbers of TVs in Sonoma County in early January. There has long been a
wintering flock just south of Fern Ridge Reservoir. Many teams in the
western portion of the Eugene CBC report them. But it's interesting that
they seem to seldom if ever frequent the rest of the circle in the colder
part of the year. Now there's a wintering population in the Coquille Valley
which gives the impression that it's growing in numbers. I imagine these
groups each have a fairly well defined summer range, distinct from other TV
cohorts.
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: Robert O'Brien <baro@xxxxxxx>
Date: 9/1/21 9:41 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: Kevin Smith <kevinsmithnaturephotos@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: OBOL <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [obol] Re: TV's on the move
Actually, as to their destination, a few years ago I read of a banding
study that found (southern?) Oregon TVs wintered mostly in central Baja and
the adjacent mainland across the gulf. I might be able to find the article
if anyone was interested.. Bob OBrien Carver OR
On Wed, Sep 1, 2021 at 6:42 PM Kevin Smith <
kevinsmithnaturephotos@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Going on 7PM today and the Turkey Vultures are on the move south! Twelve
of them are headed for a night roost here at Crooked River Ranch. It will
be interesting to see just how many will congregate to make the trip. We
have had as many as 27 trying to find space on the cell tower behind our
house to all fit in one place. But wait! There's more. Well there WERE
more, Thirty-Two in the poplar trees at Ogden Wayside. That's when we
found that the carrying capacity of poplar limbs was only THREE birds at
once. We went and watched them circle in and land. CRACK! One limb
breaks and falls to the ground. crack, again. Another limb sends three
Turkey Vultures away to circle once, twice more before finding a roost for
the night. Their long trip south to Texas, Mexico, central America and yet
farther . Across Panama canal to Columbia and who know where. Hope they
make it back next spring to circle, circle, circle to finally pick up the
'leavings' of our un-thinking automobile drivers in a hurry to get
somewhere. Sixty miles per hour in a thirty-five mile per hour zone is
nothing for them. Don't worry. Nobody will turn them in. Run down that
young spotted fawn. The vultures will come and clean it all up.
Hope we DO see them return next spring.
Kevin Smith
--
Nature is my Religion. Wildlife has never said "Don't take a photo of me
while I'm laughing"
--
Nature is my Religion. Wildlife has never said "Don't take a photo of me
while I'm laughing"
