I was at Hawk Mountain today looking for photographic opportunities even though the conditions were against me. I thought at least I could get a good hike in. When I got to one of the lookouts I heard a small rustle down on the side. I thought it would be a chipmunk or squirrel or something small. I thought snake at first, but the snow falling quickly made me discount that thought. As I looked for something I heard it again, and when I honed in on it I was rather surprised. Down a way, in a crevice of the rocks, under a small tree was a large vulture. I froze, trying to determine how to get my camera out of the backpack to photo her. When I moved some to get a better view I was afraid she would try to take off, out from under that tree and hurt herself. Then she darted under the rocks. I fully expected her to dart out the other side and off the cliff face to freedom. But she never reappeared on the other side. So I climbed down to get a closer look and there was a small cave. Moving around some, and further down, I got a better look into the cave at what looked like two large eggs. I thought she was down there eating something and when I saw the eggs, I assumed eggs were on the menu. I still couldn’t see her though. I leaned over a little and my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cave, and there she was pressed up in the back of the cave. For a bird that soars like a vulture and roosts in large dead trees, they must surely nest in trees, or so I thought. After noticing the eggs were in tact, large enough to be hers, and there were a fair amount of droppings on the rocks, I thought what would lay eggs up here. I assumed either I found a stupid bird, or they nest on the ground in caves. Hanging upside down, strangely clinging to the rocks I snapped off a few shots. I didn’t want to completely scare her, since she was kind of cornered. She never did hiss at me and eventually went back to sit on the eggs. They are not the best photos, but I think they do well enough for ID and documentation.
When I returned to the visitors center I spoke with a Sanctuary volunteer. She was unsure of cave nesting but asked if the bird had a red or black head. When I said black she told me it may be a Black Vulture and there are relatively few black vultures in the area. We went to the book shelves and, based on the photos in the book, I thought it was a Black Vulture. The text confirmed they will nest in caves, and it also confirmed that 2 eggs are typical just as I found, but that was the same for the Turkey Vulture. So we were both a little excited, one to know there is a nest and secondly, possibly one of a somewhat rare bird. Well, rare in the sense of nesting so far north. Once I was home and uploaded the pictures on the computer, and looked up other photos of a Black vs Turkey Vulture, it was obviously Black. Another surprise is the 4-5 months it takes to get those babies out of the nest. So here are a couple shots of her on the nest and a crop of the same.

Jeff,
What a womderful opportunity to do some research photography on a rare bird. I would get with a biologist and work something out with them. I am sure that a biologist or a grad student would love the opportunity to study this bird.

A remarkable find and excellent photos, Jeff! That will be worth many more trips up the mountain to document the nesting progress. Can't wait to see the babies!!

Best regards,

Dick:)

Hey Jeff,

The more I see of your work from Hawk Mountain, the more I want to go. Would you say it is about an hour and a half from the City?

James

Hey James, thanks a lot.
Yeah, I would say it would be just over an hour and a half from the time you hit NJ on Rt 78. Any time you want to come out let me know. I would be glad to show you around. That goes for others who may be interested, I would be glad to take you to the Sanctuary. There are trail fees or membership to the Sanctuary. As a member I can bring guests.

David,
The Biologist said this is less rare then the volunteer thought. In the last 5 years there have been Black Vultures in the area with one other confirmed nest a few years back. She was going to investigate and let me know what she thinks. Maybe she won’t find it and I’ll have to show them where it is. I thought she would have commented on the photos but I have heard nothing on them yet. I will some how sneak in another offer to do more photography, thanks for the push.

Richard,
Thanks for the compliments. I wish she hadn’t been so secluded the photos would have been better. But that is one reason she chose that spot. I am also looking forward to seeing some chicks, hopefully the nest makes it that long. I will be sure to sneak a peek now and then. I was warned however that a Vulture not only vomits when stressed, but Mom and young are capable of projectile vomiting. This defense mechanism has been found to be very effective and the odor long lasting. It sounds like I was lucky.

After talking with a Biologist who works for Hawk Mt, she feels there have been Black Vultures nesting on the Mt for the last 5 years. 2 other people in that time frame have found nests, but she has never seen one. She has on the other hand seen the fledglings allowing her to conclude there were nests even thought there are no nest sittings. She plans on visiting the site where I found the nest this week, and at least she can say she saw one.

She asked for and I have provided her with one of the photos in a large format for possible inclusion in the news letter. I would be cool to be published in that way. We’ll see as time goes on, maybe there will be better photo ops in the near future.