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THIS WEEK at HILTON POND Installment #799---Visitor # Subscribe for free to our award-winning nature newsletter (Back to Preceding Week; on to Next Week) |
A LONG-AWAITED NESTING SPECIES In 1982 we bought near York SC the 11 acres and old farmhouse--started in 1918 and added to since--that became our home and Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History. About 30 yards south of the house sits an abandoned chicken coop we used not for fowl but for storage of junk we should have recycled long ago--mainly discarded doors and windows from a church renovation. Time and Chinese Wisteria have taken a toll on the shed's wooden sheathing and weathered planks have fallen off--leaving sizable holes in the walls, although the structure was well built and still stands (below), its rusty metal roof intact. Knowing vultures like to nest in old buildings like this, we've kept an eye on the shed each spring, ever hopeful a pair of these big avian scavengers might take a liking.
All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center Last year we saw a couple of Black Vultures hanging around the chicken coop and watched as one of them flew down and hopped through a hole at ground level. Later that day--and for a few weeks thereafter--we entered the chicken coop and looked for nesting evidence. Finding none, we figured those vultures were just shopping around and had gone elsewhere to raise a brood in 2022.
All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center One day this week we watched a kettle of eight Black Vultures circling overhead against blue skies, casting big shadows on the ground as they passed between us and the Sun. Eventually one broke from the group and descended to treetop level before gliding in for a relatively graceful two-point landing on the chicken coop roof. With binoculars, we could watch through thick vegetation as the vulture hopped to the ground on the far side of the shed. Blocked by the structure, we couldn’t tell what happened after that, so we walked slowly out to investigate.
All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center When we rounded the corner of the coop, a vulture exploded from a gaping wall hole, noisily flapping its five-foot wings but not going far. It perched in a snag about ten feet up, eying us warily as we stared back. Not wishing to disturb this big bird further, we backed away to an always-open doorway on the other end of the coop and sneaked in. There we found the long awaited treasure (below): Two three-inch pale green eggs ornamented with dark brown splotches. After 42 years, Hilton Pond Center finally had a Black Vulture nest!
All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center To be honest, "nest" is a bit of an overstatement. The eggs were just sitting there amid vegetational debris on a hard concrete floor--more of a "scrape" than anything. We snapped just one quick iPhone photo and didn’t touch the eggs to see if they were warm, not wanting to leave human scent that might attract predators such as Raccoons, skunks, or even big ratsnakes. Since vultures typically lay only two eggs, we're guessing incubation was already underway, so we quietly exited the chicken coop and returned to our office in the old farmhouse. Through the trees we saw the perched vulture slip again behind the shed, suggesting it re-entered to sit on eggs. In days since we have seen one Black Vulture follow that same flight path from overhead and down through trees to the roof of the old shed. Figuring the nest is still active, we hatched our own plan to set up a remote camera to keep close eye on progress. Thanks to the generosity of donors to Hilton Pond Center, we were able to order an outdoor camera and peripheral equipment and hope to have it working within a few days.
All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center We suspect we have plenty of time to get things up and running. We don't know exactly when the two eggs were laid, but Black Vulture parents share incubation duties for about 30 days, after which chicks are in the nest for an astonishing two to three months! Stay tuned as we try to implement a Hilton Pond Black Vulture Webcam. It'll be exciting if it works! All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center NO MORE AMAZON SMILE. Giant retailer Amazon recently announced it will no longer support non-profits like Hilton Pond Center and Operation RubyThroat via Amazon Smile. Through this now-defunct program Amazon customers directed a small percentage of on-line purchases to a non-profit of their choice. Participants designated the Center as recipient, bringing us several hundred dollars each year. With this fundraising opportunity now canceled there's still a way you can help Hilton Pond when you shop on-line: Become a member of iGive. Please enroll by going to the iGive Web site. It's a painless, important way for YOU to support our on-going work in conservation, environmental education, and research. Register Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project as your preferred charity to make it even easier to help Hilton Pond Center when you buy on-line. There's also an iGive app for phones and tablets, so Happy Shopping--and thanks! All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center HILTON POND SUNSETS (AND MOONRISES) "Never trust a person too lazy to get up for sunrise
Sunset over Hilton Pond, 17 February 2023 See that tiny winged speck in the cloud just above the center of the contrail? (You'll need to enlarge the image.) That's a Red Bat. Yes, this species hibernates but often comes out on warm winter All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Sunset over Hilton Pond, 21 February 2023 Nice warm summer day today--in mid-February: 77.0° at 3 p.m. All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center Don't forget to scroll down for lists of Hilton Pond supporters and of all birds banded and recaptured during the period. Photoshop image post-processing for this page employs |
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"This Week at Hilton Pond" is written and photographed by Dr. Bill Hilton Jr., executive director of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
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