Record-breaking 29k turkey vultures spotted flying over Michigan park

[marmar]

(MLive) GIBRALTAR, MICH. -- Visitors to Lake Erie Metropark on Tuesday were treated to the incredible sight of more than 29,000 turkey vultures soaring overhead throughout the day, setting a new one-day record count for the species at that location.

The new high count was reported this week in a social media post by the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, which added that current visitors to the area should look up for the chance to see turkey vultures on their fall migration.

Turkey vultures spend the summer breeding season in the northeastern and western U.S. as well as southern Canada; this time of year they fly in groups called “kettles” either to southern U.S. states or much farther into Central America, according to Cornell University’s All About Birds guide.

The journeying vultures spotted over the metropark this week were counted as part of the annual Detroit River Hawk Watch, a long-running bird monitoring project that takes place annually from September through November. ............(more)

https://www.mlive.com/life/2023/10/record-breaking-29k-turkey-vultures-spotted-flying-over-michigan-park.html