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We have another neighborhood about 1/4 from my house, the expanse is mostly hay field and no trees except right on the property line between our two communities.
The turkey buzzards seem to like circling about 5 houses just on the other side of the tree line, I am talking over 12 birds. Each day even when its cool out they circle this particular area almost exclusively all day, with a few venturing out and flying over us and the rest of the community.
I sit on my porch ALOT and like to watch these big birds soar, fly and land. they are so graceful aloft but scare the heck out you landing, its like seeing a a C5 aircraft do a stunt maneuver like a fighter jet . I have a huge open field to stare out over so i get to see them crash land for the dead moles i lay out in the open after they expire
I drove though that neighborhood a few times and there are no pens with chickens or any other livestock.
just normal looking homes.

last week the sheriff deputies scrambled through our area and eventually one jumped the fence and to go looking.

then today i heard they arrested a home full of folks growing pot and making meth, but didn't get the details of which place exactly
my question does meth or something give off an odor the buzzards like or was it a coincidence

Coincidence. The reason they are flying in circles is to stay in the air that is going up. The soaring birds find thermals to fly. The thermals occur when the air on the ground gets warmer than the air above it. The heat causes an upward draft of air. By flying in a circle the birds stay in the rising air. Now, if they had a real pot growing operation and a LOT of lights there could be lots of rising air. Also, if the land is on a hill/slope/cliff that is facing the wind, as the wind (air) compresses against the obstacle it has only one place to go (ridge lift). Up. The birds typically fly from edge to edge in along this line of rising air.

Most large birds use the rising air to gain altitude to look for food. However, in many years of hang gliding we have observed the buzzards seem to be the only birds that go out an fly for 'fun'. One of the ridges I used to fly in Kingsland, had a flock that lived on the ridge. Every afternoon as the ridge lift picked up the would leave in mass and have a late afternoon flight.

Maybe they dispose of customers with outstanding debt in their own "special" way, and the buzzards are just doing their job.

I don't know, but it isn't that far fetched.

I heard once that a natural gas company used them to locate leaks in long stretches of pipeline. Seems the buzzards could smell the odor agent in the gas and were drawn to it.

Jaguar wrote:I don't know, but it isn't that far fetched.

I heard once that a natural gas company used them to locate leaks in long stretches of pipeline. Seems the buzzards could smell the odor agent in the gas and were drawn to it.

Leaks in natural gas pipelines have even been found thanks to the turkey vulture's sense of smell. The explanation? Turkey vultures smell the chemical mercaptan, which smells like carrion and is put into natural gas for human safety, and then circle over the portion of pipe that is broken.

Cooking meth results in many different types of stinky chemicals.

http://vulturesociety.homestead.com/QandA.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Reminds me of a Grandpa Jones song "The buzzards in the sky get so drunk they can't fly, just from smellin' that good ol' methy-dew."

i8godzilla wrote:Coincidence. The reason they are flying in circles is to stay in the air that is going up. The soaring birds find thermals to fly. The thermals occur when the air on the ground gets warmer than the air above it. The heat causes an upward draft of air. By flying in a circle the birds stay in the rising air. Now, if they had a real pot growing operation and a LOT of lights there could be lots of rising air. Also, if the land is on a hill/slope/cliff that is facing the wind, as the wind (air) compresses against the obstacle it has only one place to go (ridge lift). Up. The birds typically fly from edge to edge in along this line of rising air.

Most large birds use the rising air to gain altitude to look for food. However, in many years of hang gliding we have observed the buzzards seem to be the only birds that go out an fly for 'fun'. One of the ridges I used to fly in Kingsland, had a flock that lived on the ridge. Every afternoon as the ridge lift picked up the would leave in mass and have a late afternoon flight.

completely agree with the thermals...have flown lots and lots of years
trees are cooler....
open ground is warmer.
oh yes 100% agree.
but these guys love the air over mobile homes
i think the natural gas might be a valid point as we have two underground pipelines running under our neighborhood right through the next one, I need to go walking the line and see

speaking of riding the thermals...two weeks ago i watched several go so high i lost sight of them and had to get the binocs to regain them.
then a few starting going in out of heavy clouds , i thought they were getting a bath midair

yep i have lots of free time and I love wildlife they are truly fascinating

Meth. It puts the buzz in buzzard.

smoothoperator wrote:Meth. It puts the buzz in buzzard.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

I once worked on a Furfural unit at a refinery. We had thousands of honey bees and yellow jackets swarming us constantly. Furfural is used in processing lube oil and is made from assorted grains, oats, corn, etc. Basically furfural is over cooked moonshine.