In reference to recent TN-Bird posts by Wallace and Charlie Muise regarding heron nesting colonies, I would like to encourage all observers of these sites to look for and note the presence of vultures in the vicinity of the colonies. In recent years I have noted the presence of vultures (mostly black-possibly non-breeding sub-adults?) at several established heron nesting colonies in the Fort Loudoun-Tellico-Melton Hill-Watts Bar Reservoir areas. While I have not observed any predation (eggs or fledglings) by vultures to date, at least one heron nesting colony in the Fort Loudoun-Tellico area where numerous vultures were present throughout the nesting season went from approximately 30 active nests to 0 over about a three year period. I know that heron colonies do disperse and move around over time, however I suspect in this case that the presence and numbers of vultures may have influenced the success of this nesting colony. I am going to be more closely monitoring heron nesting colonies on local reservoir areas this year and I will post any observations of vultures or other factors that may be influencing nesting success. I encourage all observers to do the same to help us determine if there might be some relationship between heron nesting colonies and vulture roosting/concentration areas. As a sidenote, we have had several vulture "incidents" reported to us over the last couple of years which include the tearing off (and possibly eating) of windshield wipers and sun roof gaskets on vehicles parked at fishing and boating access sites near Fort Loudoun Dam and the "consumption" of jetski seats on Watts Bar Reservoir. It appears that black vultures are the primary culprit in these cases. Wes James Lenoir City, TN Wesley K. (Wes) James, Wildlife Biologist Tennessee Valley Authority, Resource Stewardship Little Tennessee Watershed Team 260 Interchange Park Drive Lenoir City, TN 37772-5664 865-632-1312 Fax: 865-632-1313 wkjames@xxxxxxx =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the count in which the birds you report were seen. The actual date of observation should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. ______________________________________________________________ TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp _____________________________________________________________