Counting Raptors
Cleon and I are traveling. We left our house, bird feeders, birdbath, and our bird cam in very good hands. Thank you Miles, Justin, and Jean! So we can relax and just enjoy a few weeks of birding.
As I have written in this blog, one of the best places to look for raptors is when you are on our nation’s interstates. We have been gone for several days and have been on various interstates, divided highways and two-lane roads and we have seen a good number of raptors.
11/20. We left home in central IL and drove to Dry Ridge, KY.
Weather – Low 50’s. Clear. Sunny. No wind.
Illinois:
3 Turkey Vultures – each was alone and soaring
1 American Kestrel – on an overhead utility wire
Indiana – central and southern Indiana are great places to look for Turkey Vultures
20 Turkey Vultures
1 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Osprey – this was such a treat! Flying close to a good-sized body of water near a golf course
1 Bald Eagle – alternating flapping and soaring over the highway – right towards us. Then turned so we also had a good look at the fanned tail.
11/21 – Weather – sleet, wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain, snow. Low-mid 30’s. About 2 inches of snow in and all around Charleston, WV. High winds – car was hard to handle. We have 4-wheel drive and used it coming down Sandstone Mt on I-64 just south of Beckley, WV.
From Dry Ridge, KY to Lewisburg, WV – in the areas where it was only cloudy, we did spot:
5 Turkey Vultures – all soaring and tipping violently from side to side.
1 Red-tailed Hawk – perched in a tree – all fluffed out.
11/22 – Weather – Beautiful day. Mostly sunny with some clouds. Breezy. Morning temps in the high 30’s-mid 40’s. 50 in Chapel Hill. And a great day for raptors!
From Lewisburg, WV to Chapel Hill, NC:
38 Turkey Vultures – mostly in small groups of 3-4 spread out through the sky, but within sight of each other.
29 Black Vultures* – all in kettles of 5-9 – all fairly close together
2 American Kestrels – on overhead utility wires
*There are Black Vultures in southern Illinois, but it is rare to see one where I live in central Illinois so to see so many was wonderful.
11/24 – Weather – Beautiful day. Mid-50’s. Breezy on mainland. More wind out on The Outer Banks. A day of travel. but a good day of birding from the car.
From Chapel Hill, NC to The Outer Banks (Rodanthe, NC):
42 Turkey Vultures – all soaring. From singles all alone in the sky to loose groups of 2-7.
12 Boat-tailed Grackles – all perched close together on an overhead utility wire.
7 Pigeons – all roosting together under a highway bridge
36 Double-crested Cormorants – roosting, swimming, flying.
40 Greater Black-backed Gulls* – all sitting on the railing of the long bridge over Croatan Sound.
11 Herring Gulls* – amongst the Greater Black Backed Gulls
15 Canada Geese
European Starlings – several flocks of 10-25 in each – only starlings
14 Brown Pelicans
3 Northern Mockingbirds
27 Ring-billed Gulls
5 Laughing Gulls
*Sitting on the rails of bridges, on the tops of poles on bridges, or soaring over bridges is dangerous for all gulls. There were at least 6 dead gulls on the bridge.
So what comes to my mind as I look at this list? Vultures are abundant this time of year in the skies of North Carolina! The Turkey Vultures were all through the skies – soaring, wobbling, and exposing that interesting translucent underside. And all Canada Geese and European Starlings were in saltwater marsh habitat – not in the towns we passed through or the freshwater lakes and ponds as where we normally would expect to see them.
Tomorrow we will actually get out of the car! Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. And the weather should be really fine.