Monday night, at dusk (between 7 & 7:15) after helping at the Congregationalist Church's Soup Kitchen, I drove past the Roanoke Ave Elementary School ( the "Hub" of the R/V/R) only to find no vultures on the school's chimney, or in the immediate vicinity. I then headed toward the Riverhead Library, a few blocks away, which took me bye one of the R/V/R's "spokes" - a stand of spruces located on the w/s of Griffing Ave, between the 1st & 2nd houses s/o of Lincoln Ave. Upon seeing some dark "shadows" moving around, I moved out of the car and started to count. While I'm not sure of the exact number of T.V's. (45 to 50) I am sure of at least 1 Black Vulture. Trying to get a full count (lighting was tough) I noticed a T.V., with his back toward me, hunching over on a paved driveway under the spruces...along with a black cat creeping up on it for an attack. When it finally sprang, the bird was able to make a successful getaway ! After the cat came back into view, it started to sniff the driveway something fierce, making me curious as to what odor had its attention...was it from the bird itself, or the smell of carrion ? If it was the latter, I guess the bird took the food in its beak as it flew up into the tree, because there wasn't anything visible on the driveway. Shortly afterward, many of the vultures lifted off, heading toward Roanoke Ave, with about 1/3 of them returning in just a few minutes. It was during this time that I was able to firm up the ~ total, along with seeing the Black Vulture.
Cheers, Bob -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
