Black Vulture in St. Louis County
2010-05-16

'Casual' in Minnesota - Five or fewer records in St. Louis County for the Spring season

Black Vulture at Stoney Point, St. Louis County, 16 May 2010. First found shortly before 5:00 PM the previous day by Jan and John Green, the bird could not be refound until 10:05 AM on the 16th. At 10:30 AM it flew northwest and disappeared. It could potentially return to this site again since there is a rotting and particularly pungent carcass of a skunk on the south side of the stone wall at Stoney Point. On both days, the bird was found by the Greens just east of the stone wall. Look along the bluff on the south side of the road, where it was found standing on the ground on the 15th, and check the aspen and popple trees just east of the stone wall, where it was found perched on the 16th. If accepted by the MOU Records Committee, this would establish the 5th documented record of this species for the state. Previous records include 28 August 2001 at Hawk Ridge, Duluth (Loon 74:63-66), 29 April 2003 at the West Skyline Hawk Count, Duluth (Loon 76:41), 26 May 2004 along highway 61 at Encampment Forest, Lake County (Loon 77:184-185), and 24-25 March 2007 at Afton, Washington County (Loon 79:182-183). Interestingly, a Black Vulture was reported by Monica Essenmacher on the 15th at the Port Crescent State Park hawk watch in Huron County, Michigan, the same day that this bird was found at Stoney Point.

Photo by Peder H. Svingen