The Mountain Eagles are back! They are Turkey Vultures, of course, and the park’s Mountain View Restaurant annually provides premiere, window-seat viewing of a large gathering of the great soaring birds from mid February through the end of March.
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| Turkey Vultures |
This year, they arrived on February 12th and over the next month and a half, park visitors will enjoy spectacular views of their avian aerobatics. At Pine Mountain in late winter, a vortex of a couple hundred vultures is observed morning & evening during their period of communal roosting. By the time March arrives, a menagerie of magnificent soaring birds will dominate the skies. The birds roost in the crowns of giant, old growth trees nestled in the heart of the park's celebrated Hemlock Garden.
In recent years, the event has been embraced as a natural tradition and the annual occurrence provides excellent opportunities to photograph these lesser celebrated birds of prey, in significant numbers, as they pinwheel and pirouette in casual soaring and aerial play.
