Vulture expert Diann MacRae of Bothell tells the story of a Discovery Channel representative who wanted to see the waves of turkey vultures soaring south from Vancouver Island to the north Olympic Peninsula for a program on migration.
"He stood there and watched for about 15 minutes and then said, ‘Well, where are they?’
"I told him that I couldn’t guarantee them!"
Keep that in mind when you head out to Salt Creek Recreation Area west of Port Angeles for a day of vulture-watching and, if the tide’s right, some of the best tide-pooling in the state.
"We had 1,100 in three hours a couple of years ago," MacRae said, although the vulture numbers are usually lower.
This is the 11th year of MacRae’s vulture-monitoring project; she arrived earlier this week and will stay until about Oct. 6. The best chance to see the vultures is on a nice day with an easterly wind. Last year MacRae counted 2,869 vultures.
Since the birds are not banded, it’s impossible to track them to their wintering sites, although Kern Valley in California has about 30,000 and Vera Cruz, Mexico, might have as many as 1 million, MacRae said.
"Fish and Wildlife won’t let us mark them anymore with bands on their legs," said Larry Rymon of the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society, who is volunteering to help count.
"They have a tendency to defecate on their legs (and there might) have been some leg infections from the bands," he said.
"But they’re the ultimate carrion removers. There are no morticians out there in nature. They prevent animal diseases from being spread (because) they remove dead animals quickly," he said.
They also move through the area pretty quickly.
"By the second week of October, they’re gone," MacRae said.
So catch them while you can.
"The park is really nice and the birds often come right into the park. People come running up, shouting, ‘Have you seen these?’" MacRae said.
"There aren’t many thermals over the water so when they get toward land they start kettling up. They hit a thermal and get some more height and they just glide off.
"By the time they reach the coast, they’re not very high, maybe 100 to 300 feet and sometimes almost at eye level.
"They get the thermals on the Canadian side and get way high, then do a lot of gliding, flap 10 or 12 times, and more gliding. By the time they’ve flown 12 miles, they’re pretty low."
Roosting at the park is an exception, "but one time I saw over 100 in the trees," she said.
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