Today, between ~ 1700 & 1740, there was a total of 49 Turkey Vultures resting at 2 of their regular haunts - the large spruce trees located at the north end of the Riverhead Firehouse on the e/s of Roanoke Ave, and the large pine tree in the rear of # 542 Roanoke Ave (1st house n/o the firehouse). During this time, all, but 5, of these birds, lifted off (1 or 2 at a time) and flew to the large spruce trees on the w/s of Roanoke Ave, at the intersection of Elton Ave. This seems to be the T.V's. favorite night-time roost. While 49 represents the largest number of this specie that I have encounted on L.I., it is still less than the total seen by Brian Carr on 1/30/17 (pers. comm.), when he counted 45 in one tree*, with 20-30 in other surrounding trees in the area.
An interesting and rewarding aspect of the Roanoke Roosts came, for me, in the request by Tom Payton, Principal of the Roanoke Ave Elementary School (its roof and chimney are heavily used by the T.V's.) to speak to one of their after-school clubs, The 3rd Grade Garden & Environmental Club has been studying/researching the large, black, odd-looking, flying creatures that they see every day, and would like to learn more ! I accepted the invite and on February 6th gave a Power Point Presentation to ~ 25 enthusiastic young students, along with their 2 teachers. We all had a good time, and learned quite a bit...including me ! Cheers, Bob *Between 1st & 2nd houses on the w/s of Griffing Ave, s/o Lincoln St. This location is 2 blocks w/o Roanoke Ave. -- 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/ --
