Georgia Tourists Flock to See Vultures

A D E L, Ga., Jan. 30 -- Vultures, thousands of them, pack the limbs ofthe pine and cypress trees at Reed Bingham State Park, theirmenacing beaks and shiny black feathers forming one of the nation'seeriest natural spectacles.

California has its swallows of Capistrano, Washington Stateoffers bald-eagle watching on the Upper Skagit River, but at ReedBingham it's vultures.

Hundreds of them live year-round at the park in south-centralGeorgia, but the population soars into the thousands each winterwhen migrating vultures arrive from the North.

The park offers opportunities for fishing, boating, camping,mini-golf and swimming, but some visitors come just to see thevultures, said Sam Williams, the park's assistant manager.

"We have a lot of people within a 50- or 60-mile radius whohear about the buzzards and come," he said. "We also havetravelers coming off the interstate."

The best times to see the birds are shortly after the park opensat 7 a.m., while the vultures are lounging in the trees and on thebanks of the lake, or about an hour before sunset when they returnto roost, Williams said.

Swooping in by the Hundreds

In the morning, it helps to have a boat to travel upriver totheir roosting trees, but a boat is not essential because many ofthem bask in the morning sun on the banks, a short distance from aroad.

"In the evening, you can park anywhere around the lake andwatch them come in the hundreds," Williams said.

The park get about 250,000 visitors a year — about 25,000 ofthem to see the vultures, according to Williams.

Also known as buzzards, the large black birds perch in the treesor lounge on the grassy banks of the park's 325-acre lake, waitingfor favorable updrafts. Then groups of them spiral high into thesky to search for their favorite food — road kill or otherdecomposing animals.

While their diet may seem distasteful, they help rid thecountryside of dead, rotting flesh that could spread viruses andbacteria.

The odd-looking birds are often depicted in movies and cartoonscircling above thirsty souls stranded in deserts.