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28 October 2015

Details of Autumn Turkey Vulture Season at Valentine

There are no more Turkey Vultures floating above the ridge of Minnechaduza Creek. After a season of presence, these birds have flown south. During their time in the area, they could be easily seen floating upon air currents, especially north of the creek valley during their daily search for sustenance.

First noted during late August this year, there were a few seen, usually coursing westward in the morning. Counts were in the single digits unless some time was taken to watch them float amidst the skies.

Early in September, a fine number – 16 – were seen at the Bluebird Shack north of Valentine.

By the end of the month, there were 40 counted going to the westward along the creek valley. It is always a mystery how they find the carrion needed to survive! Their majesty of floating is supreme, as they are only occasionally seen actually flapping their wings rather than soaring along.

Three days later, on October 1st, there were 48 noted during a focused watch. After this interlude, an additional ten birds were soaring to the east at the Water Tower Ridge. The entire group of 58 certainly included migratory vultures that had arrived.

Notes were kept on their transition on this cloudy morning. The first vulture was seen at 7 a.m., even before the sun was above the eastern horizon. Thirty minutes later there were five more of these buzzards in the sky northward of the shack.

What followed was an indication of these birds’ flight from one vantage point:

* 12 at 7:50 a.m.
* then 2, plus 3 more to the west
* five east at 8:05
* 21 west at 8:15
* some going east and some west during the interlude
* a dozen floating westward about 8:40
* then another number, most going westerly, until at 8:50 a.m. there was another dozen making their way to elsewhere along the Minnechaduza

On the first day of October, besides the transitional birds, another ten were seen near the water tanks of Valentine. With three Red-tailed Hawks also present, some time watching these birds float on unseen currents was a time of appreciation of flight and how these feathery birds are masters of the air. They are masters of the air, with their wings going to and fro in flight.

No vultures were seen during a two hour watch on Monday, October 5th.

These masters of floating in the sky were seen prominently on October 6th, when 16 were amidst the skyscape of Water Tower Ridge.

During the evening on the 9th, there were nine towards the southern ridge, that being above the fresh waters of the Valentine Mill Pond.

There was an apparent tragedy apparent mid-morning on the 15th. A juvenile was running along the north side of Lake Shore Drive, which is along the north side of the Mill Pond, on the northern side of Valentine. Its right wing was broken, and flight was not possible. The bird was beneath the utility line which is along the thoroughfare. It ran away, going uphill, after first hiding among the shrubbery to avoid what it perceived as a predator. There can be an obvious connection between the lines and a broken wing, the context being an inflight collision.

The last significant number of vultures was on the 13th, when there were still 16 lingering above the trees at the Ward Place, Valentine.

On the 16th was when the last soaring Turkey Vulture was seen, once again floating along the pine-clad ridge of Minnechaduza Creek. It was distinctive against a cerulean blue.

Their seasonal arrival in the spring 2016 will be indicative, and appreciated as a significant aspect of the yearly chronology of avifauna at the river city vicinity.


05 October 2015

September Birds Around Valentine

September Birds Around Valentine

It has been a month of birdly discoveries around Valentine where there are many places to watch birds. Among those localities with records contributing to the month's tally are the city of Valentine including especially the Valentine Livestock Market facility, the Mill pond, along the estates of Lake Shore Drive on the north side of the pond, and the Ward Place with the bluebird shack.

Many of the species noted were seen just outside the north window vantage point at the shack. Some of the more notable observations were:

  • Turkey Vulture: numbers were distinctly greater at the end of the month. These birds apparently roost on the tree snags at Water Tower Ridge, where a wild fire years ago left behind numerous tree snags. Vultures were regularly seen coursing westward in the morning and usually counted as they passed. The largest count including birds in passage and those still circling around the roost site.
  • The osprey was probably resident for several days, enjoying fish from the pond.
  • Eurasian Collored Dove are common within Valentine, with about ten present at the livestock market, with pairs present at about four-five other spots within the city limits. They also occur among the estates north of the Mill Pond.
  • Common Nighthawks were numerous as migrants early in the month, but then not seen again, despite time taken to look for them.
  • The Chimney Swift was most numerous in the chimney of the Sawyer Memorial Library, along main street.
  • Both red-shafted and yellow-shafted varieties of the Northern Flicker present.
  • Blue Jays are resident with a few usually heard or seen on a daily basis. A truly distinct observation was 37 jays flying southward in a loose flock, on the 28th. It was apparently a migratory group. This sort of activity had not been previously observed during past years of bird watching.
  • A group of House Wren were present early in the month, but their extent decreased to a single bird active each day about the bluebird shack.
  • A nice bunch of Eastern Bluebird were seen each day, with several foraging from vantage points on the utility wires or fencetops. Adult and juveniles were present.
  • House Finch were the most common birds. They were present each day, flying from amidst the pines to forage in the cattle pen or to gather on the utility wires. Numbers seen each day would vary, but they could be quite abundant at times.

There 45 species noted on different days during the month. In many instances the records for a particular date were just for a unique species, but a few times each month, all species observed were noted and entered into a database. The number given is a sum of the number seen at, perhaps, different sites on a particular date (i.e., julian date as shown in the table).

Common Name 245
2nd
246 248 250 251 253 254 255 258 259 260 261 262 264 265 266 267 268 270 271
28th
Canada Goose - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - 8 6
Wood Duck - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - 9 - - - - 10 - - - - - - - - 16
Wild Turkey - - - - - - 9 - - - - - - 8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8
Double-crested Cormorant - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 28 - - - - - - - -
Turkey Vulture - - 2 16 7 - - - - - - 4 - - - - - - 4 - - - - 2 - - 1 - - 8 46
Osprey - - - - - - - - - - 1 1 - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sharp-shinned Hawk - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - -
Red-tailed Hawk - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - -
Killdeer - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rock Pigeon - - 10 - - - - - - - - - - 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 20 - - - - - -
Eurasian Collared-Dove - - 4 - - 2 - - 4 - - 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 12 - - 2 1
Mourning Dove - - 9 - - 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - 1
Eastern Screech-Owl 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Common Nighthawk 22 34 67 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chimney Swift 3 181 20 - - - - - - - - 30 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Belted Kingfisher - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
Downy Woodpecker - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hairy Woodpecker - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - 1 1
Northern Flicker - - 1 - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - 3 - - - - - - - - - - 2 1 - - 3 - -
Eastern Phoebe - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - 1
Blue Jay - - 6 - - 2 - - - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - 43
American Crow - - 2 - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - 2
Black-capped Chickadee - - - - - - 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - 2 - -
White-breasted Nuthatch - - 1 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
House Wren - - 3 - - 4 - - - - - - - - - - 3 3 - - - - - - 1 1 1 - - 1 1
Eastern Bluebird - - 4 - - 6 - - - - - - 6 - - 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - 8 - - - - 7
American Robin - - - - - - 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 6 - - - - 2
Gray Catbird - - - - - - 1 - - 1 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Brown Thrasher - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
European Starling - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - 5 - - - - - -
Cedar Waxwing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 17 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Yellow-rumped Warbler - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
Mourning Warbler - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Spotted Towhee - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
Chipping Sparrow - - - - - - 6 - - 5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - - -
Clay-colored Sparrow - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - 4
Lincoln's Sparrow - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 3 - - - - 1 1 - - - - - - 1
White-crowned Sparrow - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Northern Cardinal - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2
Indigo Bunting - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - -
Common Grackle - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6
House Finch - - 14 - - 16 - - 35 60 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10 27 - - 64
American Goldfinch - - 2 - - 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 - - - - 8
House Sparrow - - 20 - - - - - - 3 - - 5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15 - - - - - -

A probable addendum to this list would be the Red-headed Woodpecker, as it was prominent at a couple of the locales during the latter days of August.

Notably missing from this tally were the meadowlark (despite the extensive grassland at the Water Tower Ridge). There were no Red-winged Blackbirds seen at the Mill Pond. Not a single swallow has been seen, though the Barn Swallow, et al., would be expected to be present any day of the month.