Port Hope’s first turkey vulture festival taking flight
By reporter Natalie Hamilton
Caolaidhe Keelor of Port Hope is always game to talk turkey (vulture.)
Keelor, a self-proclaimed “bird nerd,” is particularly excited about an upcoming turkey vulture festival, which is a first for Port Hope, and to her knowledge, a novel event for Canada as well.
She’s organizing the festival, which runs on Sunday, Sept. 27 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Farley Mowat Park in Port Hope. Events will also take place in Rotary Park. The festival includes a variety of environmental vendors, education about vultures, live animals from turtles to birds, a scavenger hunt downtown, and more.
Keelor said the festival, where the bird is the word, provides an opportunity to celebrate all things turkey vulture and educate the community at the same time about “an often-misunderstood species – the vulture.”
Just last week, she saw about 50 birds roosting in trees, “thermalling” in the sky and scavenging on the ground near the river, during Port Hope’s annual salmon run.
“Every year during the salmon run, hundreds of turkey vultures will congregate to clean-up all the salmon. It’s a phenomenal experience to see all of those turkey vultures roosting.”
Turkey vultures and vultures in general have a bad reputation, said Keelor.
“So I’ve taken it upon myself to be their public relations representative to bring awareness. People often have misconceptions that vultures might prey on a domestic animal, for instance, when they see them circling over an area.
“Turkey vultures are obligate scavengers, meaning don’t see anything living as food. They only eat what’s already dead. They really are nature’s clean-up crew.”
The acidity level in their stomachs is equivalent to battery acid so when they do eat pathogens like rabies on roadkill or carrion, “they recycle it, so it comes out clean.”
“Vultures actually do stop the spread of disease and they’re a keystone species for the environment so I just want to throw them the best party to make everybody love them as much as I do,” said Keelor.
She became fond of turkey vultures through her previous job at Pacific Northwest Raptors on Vancouver Island.
“I got to work with some amazing turkey vultures and learn more about vultures and “how cool they are. The art of evolution of how they’re designed is so neat.”
Part of the festival encompasses education, and there will also be a variety of activities. At 1 p.m., Alderville First Nation will lead a cultural opening ceremony. At 2 p.m., music starts with Greg Keelor, a Canadian singer-songwriter known for his role in Blue Rodeo, and other musicians.
The conservation village will feature about 12 environmental vendors in both the Rotary and Farley Mowat portions of the park. Vendors include Ontario Nature, Wild Ontario with birds of prey, and the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre with turtles.
There will also be a scavenger hunt downtown for adults and kids alike with prizes. The event is free.
“My goal is not only to bring awareness to turkey vultures, but also to nature. The more you know about a certain species or the environment, the more you want to protect it. I feel that we’re all connected and so protecting the habits we all live in is very important.”
“I hope it does become an annual event,” said Keelor.
For more information, visit @turkeyvulturefestival on Instagram or visit https://www.birdershewrote.com/.
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