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Posted by Roger Hammer on 08:43:40 12/17/08
Friends of mine kayaked recently to East Cape Sable to camp and fish there. One of them paddled offshore about a half mile where he encountered a red-shouldered hawk and a turkey vulture floating in the Gulf. He managed to get the hawk onto his kayak by assisting it with his paddle, but was unable to rescue the vulture.
This is rather odd because years ago I encountered two turkey vultures floating in the Gulf about 2 miles offshore of Cape Sable. I was in my flats boat so I picked both birds up and placed them in my boat before taking them back to the Cape. I sat them on the upper dune where they spread their wings to dry, as they typically do there.
I can only surmise that these birds got chased off of the Cape early in the morning before their wings were dry enough to fly, and ended up in the Gulf where they were swept out by the tide. I can't imagine how the hawk ended up out there.
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