23 October 2013. Carrolls Bay Hamilton ON. I went to the same place as yesterday looking for a continuation of the hawk flight. Really there was almost nothing, maybe I’ve missed the best of it, maybe it’s yet to come; I’ll keep on trying. In any event it was a worthwhile spot mostly for the drama of the sky, the clarity of the air and a couple of tumbling flights of Turkey Vultures.
Against a sky painted in angry swaths of grey and blacks set off against the purest blues and starkest white, I caught sight of the first swirl of dark shapes; Turkey Vultures I was sure of it. I kept my binoculars focused on them as they came closer. It was hard to count them and I made several attempts. Strung out over a kilometer or so, separated in height and at the same time rising and tumbling in the buffeting winds they were like an ever rolling tangle of black Vs. In the end I was pretty confident of my count of twenty.
Here’s a couple of photos (visible if you’re on the website, not if you’re reading this as an email), one of the view from lookout site, the other of some of those distant Turkey Vultures, so dramatic against the troubled October sky.
On Tuesday evening over Princess Point saw this black mass of swarming birds. Now could it have been Turkey Vultures? Never thought they did this!
Could be. If they were big birds then probably yes. TV’s flock but in relatively modest number, up to 50 say. But Starlings swarm in HUGE flocks (hundreds and thousands) too.