The migration has begun

 Morning sunshine warming the day.  A steady flow of vultures rising from their overnight roost to the south, flapping for some altitude to find the nearest rising air.  Here is what they look like as dots in a cellphone photo. 

 

This was a pretty even mix of turkey vultures and black vultures.  We estimated 250 vultures altogether, and one inspired sharp-shinned hawk, passing right over us.

 Vultures have to have thermals to get anywhere.  Very large birds, built for soaring, they don’t have the capacity to flap for very long.  So they get up from their roost, flap to gain enough altitude that they can find a thermal, then soar in a kettle until they have enough height to glide to the bottom of the next kettle to the north and repeat.  Circling, rising, gliding, circling and rising again in the next column of warming air.