What WAS that?!

[toramsfan]

Hi all...guess you could say I'm pretty much a newbie at this. Always enjoyed looking at birds even if my knowledge is basic at best.

While walking in Scarborough yesterday, northbound in the Brimley/St. Clair area, I noticed 3 birds of prey circling slowly. Their undersides were dark with very little white that was noticable to me & they were quite high in the sky. Over the next 10 minutes or so their numbers grew to 8 as they gravitated to the west-northwest. My kids and I were pretty excited to see this many birds of prey in a group at once.

We see plenty of hawks in the area, flying lower than this group was yesterday, but after looking around this forum I was quite surprised to discover that vultures are known to live around here. I'm embarrassed to say I had no idea that was the case.

My questions are:

-Is it common for most species to hover in such large numbers?
-Can anyone help me figure out what type of bird I was fascinated by yesterday?

Cheers & thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

And welcome to the site.  

Sounds to me like you've seen a group of Turkey Vultures.  They're very common in the area and you'll often see them circling in large numbers.

Here's a picture of one that I found circling at a high altitude a couple of days ago:

Turkey Vulture -> http://outdoorontario.net/Gallery/Attil ... 1/100_2895

Cheers, and have a great day!

Attila

[Julie]

Turkey vultures is what came to my mind too. Did they hold their wings in a "V" as opposed to flat, and teeter back and forth a bit? The only other big, all-dark bird would be a juvie bald eagle or golden eagle but they are rare, alas, and you don't tend to see thermal-riding groups of them here (though you do on the West Coast).

It's relatively common for birds of prey to travel together when on migration, which those guys would have been. Come early fall on a warm, clear day, be sure to keep looking up-- you and the kids might even luck out and see a "kettle" of hundreds of migrating broad-winged hawks riding a column of hot air together. In the fall (not sure about the spring) there's a group of people who monitor the migration in High Park and at Rosetta McClain Park on the Bluffs, helping people spot the endless stream of raptors (and others) moving south. It's something to see, and they're a friendly bunch of birders to boot. Notes about that will be posted on this Board in September.

happy birding

Julie

[Bluffs Birder]

Hi there and welcome,

Yes, chances are extremely good that you saw Turkey Vultures, I've seen them in the area on several occassions lately.  As I've walked through Scarborough Bluffs Park I've seen many vultures circling along the top of the bluffs coming from the east and as they arrive at Brimley Road South a lot of them tend to fly northward.  I'm guessing that they must use the Brimley Road valley as a reference point as they return during their spring migration.  I've also seen a Turkey Vulture flying above the Kingston Rd & McCowan Rd intersection recently.

Happy Birding!
Bluffs Birder

[toramsfan]

Many thanks for the replies, truly appreciated on my part.

Attila: That's pretty close to what I saw. I don't recall seeing that much white but I wasn't directly underneath them. The wings are very similar. BTW your pictures are fantastic, I especially like the harlequin shots.

Julie: I plan to hit Rosetta McClain soon, it's quite close to home for me. If we get a nice day this weekend, I'll be heading down. Thanks for the tip!

BB: Chine Dr. is even closer to my place, I'll have to take a walk around there as well. Thanks.

The day after this sighting, my kids asked me if I want binoculars for Father's Day   Guess I'll be spending some more time looking at the skies!

Happy birding to all of you, perhaps we'll cross paths at the parks.