Taken from http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists...tml#1263752606

"Subject: Turkey Vulture Cow Bay
From: "bernard burke" <blburke AT ns.sympatico.ca>
Date: Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:19:11 -0400

There was a Turkey Vulture in the vicinity of Cow Bay / Dyke Roads this
afternoon heading towards I believe Cole Harbor. I briefly attempted to
relocate it for decent photos but was unsuccessful.

Bernard Burke
blburke AT ns.sympatico.ca
Dartmouth"

Cow Bay is 10/15 mins away from where I am. Nuff said - if Bernard says he saw one, I believe him

the only other option would be a golden eagle, but those are not usually around this time of year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Eagle

Off topic as it was not one of these - but are Bald Eagles around at this time of year?

Yes, there's a couple that live near the coast guard station near Granville Island, in Vancouver. In the summer they bugger off up north to find the salmon.

Ooops I meant in NS - Vancouver is a bit warmer than here so I wonder if they still stick around here as well then?

I don't know what you saw, but I was just looking at images of turkey vultures, and none of them seem to have white speckled undersides.

http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en...tart=0&ndsp=18

I know..lol. The more I look at pics the more I think it probably was a juvenile Golden Eagle. Not that I would admit that on here....oops

It was lovely to watch swooping around whatever the heck it was!

You should e-mail Bernard and tell him to update the link I found.

I anticipate a host of anoraks getting very stiff over this.

I don't want to start a War of the Twitchers. They are quite scary when they are angry

Most likely an immature bald eagle, maybe had more white on it as it was at different stage of maturity to the photos shown

Osprey fly south for the winter

Turkey vultures are not that big either and they have a distinctive way of flying. The wobble from side to side. The ends of their wings are curled up too.

Eagles soar, you know when you have seen one, its spine tingly.

Indeed they are. When I was in N.S. in the winter I would go to Sheffield Millls to the annual Eagle Watch. You can even see many of them as you drive through Wolfeville. Look at eaglens.ca That's the website. Enjoy.

Turkey vultures are soaring birds too and, at a distance, are not all that dissimilar to eagles in size and flying style.
Yesterday afternoon when I took off from Yuma Airport ATC directed me to climb out doing a left turn away from a flock of about 100 of the things which were circling over the field. They are a real nuisance here and pilots get continuous bird reports.
A couple of years ago we had to cut down a huge ficus tree in the back yard to prevent them from roosting in it and fouling the area. We would get maybe a dozen or so of them every night. The mess was dreadful.

We have dozens of turkey vultures here and I just can't see how you would confuse them with any other bird. That wobble is distinctive.

I don't know what you mean by "wobble". They soar in the thermals here with very little wing action. I personally would not confuse an eagle with a vulture but many folks do. I wouldn't want to fly into one. They make a heck of a mess of the aircraft.

lol

They tip from side to side as they fly. Also their wings are up at the ends making a V shape. An eagle's or osprey's wings are flatter.

Turkey vulture flying

Bald eagle stealing a fish from an osprey