[obol] Turkey Vulture for state bird!

[Wayne C. Weber]

Oregon birders,

My birding friend Doug Kragh, who moved from B.C. to Beaverton in
about 1992, was impressed with the numbers and wide distribution of
TURKEY VULTURES in western Oregon, and jokingly suggested
that vultures ought to be the state bird. Sounds as good as any ideas
I've heard!

Speaking of vultures, and unhappy early migrants, we have about 
10 cm (4 inches) of fresh snow around Vancouver, BC this morning.
We don't expect to see any vultures for at least 2-3 weeks.
However, the Tree Swallows that are already here should do
just fine (the temp. just barely dipped below freezing), providing
that we don't have any repeats of the snowfall. The report of
60 Tree and 20 Barn Swallows at Tennant Lake, WA, near the
Canada-US border, was seen by me. Early Tree Swallows here
always show up at a few places (e.g. Tennant Lake, Reifel Bird
Sanctuary, Iona Island) which have lots of midges flying around.
There were plenty of midges at Tennant Lake, and as long as 
the temperature stays above freezing most of the time, there
should be enough for the swallows to eat. (Midges are tough!)

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net