Wendy Howes and Alan Rawle
Turkey Vulture chicks on tree house balcony, August 13, 2021. All photographs by Alan Rawle.
It was mid-July of 2021 before neighborhood gossip about an unusual bird-related discovery reached us. A homeowner in a quiet, forested location in Hardwick, Massachusetts, reported that a Turkey Vulture pair was nesting in an old, now-unused tree house in his yard. Although two vultures had been seen around the tree house since early spring, it never entered the owner’s mind that the birds could be nesting there. But he and his daughter looked outside one day and saw two white nestlings appear at the open front door of the tree house as the parent birds returned with food. The homeowner was happy to allow us to make visits to document this interesting find.
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