Dark Birds in Flight

     In the morning of October 28, 2016, I was driving through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland.  It was a typical late-October day of clear skies and blustery, cold wind.  Suddenly I saw about a dozen turkey vultures and a few black vultures maneuvering together into the wind, and a tattered line of American crows struggling into the wind over the farmland.  It was interesting to see the turkey vultures rocking from side to side a bit on their outstretched, slightly tipped-up wings to cope with the wind while soaring and the black vultures' usual flight pattern of alternately soaring and flapping their wings as if in a panic.  The crows recently came south from their nesting areas in Canada to spend the winter here, as they do every late-October.
     Continuing on, I saw a half dozen, probably different, turkey vultures maneuvering masterfully in the strong wind over rye fields, harvested corn fields and a field of orange pumpkins.  Then I saw more, and more, turkey vultures, which finally numbered to about 20 individuals, with a few black vultures among them.  It was entertaining to see that many vultures, which are large and dark, tacking and tipping masterfully in the wind.
     Something dead must have been in a rye field because six of the turkey vultures landed in that field and were pulling on something, though I couldn't see what because of the blades of rye.  And I didn't want to walk out there and disturb those big birds.  With my 16 power binoculars, I noticed two of the turkey vultures were young of this year.  They had gray faces rather than the red faces of adults.     
     Meanwhile, a few ragged lines of crows struggled by into the wind.  Those airborne crow flocks were a bit scattered because of the wind tossing the crows about.  But the crows were looking for harvested corn fields to land on and eat kernels of corn left on the fields after the harvests.
     Another mile down a country road, I saw a flock of a few thousand purple grackles in a corn field where they were eating invertebrates and waste corn kernels, which is what grackles do at this time of year.  The grackles in that large gathering fed for a few minutes, then took to the air in a great, dark mass, swirled over the fields a minute, then dropped to another harvested corn field.  At one point, a red-tailed hawk repeatedly dove into the wind and into the flock of airborne grackles, either for fun or to catch a meal, or both.  But I didn't see the hawk catch a grackle.
     During summer and into the fall, post-breeding purple grackles gather into larger and larger groups which is how they spend the winter from our latitude south in the United States.  Daily their great congregations seek corn kernels and other edibles in farmland and roost on winter nights in stands of tall coniferous trees.  
     In the morning of October 31, 2016, I was driving on another country road in Lancaster County farmland.  Again the wind was cold and the sky was clear.  The foliage on distant wooded hills and in farmland wood lots was at its peak of warm colors.  It was another typical, beautiful autumn day.  As I drove, I saw a column of turkey vultures as high as a small mountain in the blue sky.  There must have been over 30 swirling vultures in that feathered pillar.  And, interestingly, there were about six red-tailed hawks and a few black vultures among those circling turkey vultures.  When I stopped to observe that feathered column more closely, I noticed two large, dark birds that I suspected were bald eagles.  Looking at them with 16 power field glasses, I saw they were, indeed, immature balds that were chasing each other across the sky and low over the fields.  What a thrill to see those two magnificent birds so close, and in binoculars!
     All those large, scavenging birds were attracted to a chicken farm of two, long chicken houses.  Some chickens die on those farms and are dumped in fields with manure, providing meals for scavenging birds and mammals.  A few turkey vultures were perched on the chicken houses as if waiting for lunch.        
     It was inspiring to experience gatherings of these large, dark birds in flight and on Lancaster County fields.  Each species went about its daily routine for this time of year.  And each species is well adapted to farmland, a human-made habitat, to get food.  People unwittingly provided that habitat, which benefits the birds' getting food from it, and benefits us in that we see these awe-inspiring birds daily through fall and winter.