Turkey Vultures Soar The Thermals

Annmarie Throckmorton, M.A.

Sep 11, 2017

I smelled dust in the house this morning and looked outside to see a City of Bloomington street sweeper cleaning the street, no water from the vehicle, just a dry brush off into billowing clouds of fine particulates and chemical residue from vehicular combustion engine exhaust. It hurts my nose. I have never seen Towanda Avenue cleaned before. In the past ten years I thought that only I, my tidy next door neighbor, and the turkey vultures cleaned the streets. At sunset these magnificent birds ride the thermals above the church across the street, sometimes as many as fifty of these magnificent buzzards soar overhead. Where do these fifty-odd birds roost, all together somewhere in the trees and thickets of Ewing Park II? This is a five pound bird, with a six foot wingspan. They keep the roads clean of carrion, working at night I suppose as I have never seen them alight. Who would challenge them if they did?