Michael Koehn
Special to the Sun

In case you missed it, there were a couple of unusual dishes added to the menu at the Sierra Vista Restaurant in Weldon on Saturday morning – Road Kill Quiche and Compost Fruit Salad. It was all part of the fun at the weekend-long Kern River Valley Autumn, Nature and Vulture Festival, a celebration of the annual migration of the turkey vulture that corresponds to the beginning of fall and changing colors in the local forests.

Kicking off the festivities were a breakfast and morning lift-off viewed from the patio at the Sierra Vista, where renowned ornithologist and artist John Schmitt answered questions about vultures and raptors. The birds resting at the Kern River Preserve lifted off by mid-morning, and attendees got a firsthand view of the habitat during a bird walk around the preserve, which was also an introduction to the science of birding and bird feeding, and a visit to the Preserve’s hummingbird and seed feeders.

Chris Lomax, of Reptile Rescue, and his son Riley, enlighten a group of onlookers about tortoises at last weekend’s 14th Annual Kern River Valley Autumn, Nature and Vulture Festival held at the Kern River Preserve in Weldon. The two-day event featured the annual migration of turkey vultures through the Kern River Valley and a top-to-bottom appreciation of the unique Kern River Valley ecosystem.

The Kern River Preserve is a refuge for thousands of turkey vultures who migrate through the area on the way to their winter habitat. The vulture migration along the Pacific Flyway, from their nesting area in Canada and the Pacific Northwest to their winter homes in Mexico and South America, is one of the largest in North America.

Over the two-day event, more than 300 participants from all over California learned not only about the migrating turkey vultures, but also about clouds and weather, reptiles and amphibians, and even local native plants in a top-to-bottom appreciation of the unique Kern River Valley ecosystem. Educational displays, interactive exhibits and workshops on vultures, bird nests and eggs, condors, local wildlife and plants were provided, as well as activities for kids. A special demonstration on efforts to protect the Southwestern Pond Turtle, a species that was once numerous in California, but is now in decline over much of its range, was a big hit with the crowd. Local Postmaster Steve Kenton was also on hand selling collectible envelopes stamped with an official Turkey Vulture Festival cancellation. Plenty of live music kept things lively during festivities over the weekend.

The Turkey Vulture Festival had its beginnings when locals Terri Gallion and Sean Rowe, under the auspices of the Kern River Research center, began formally documenting what is considered the largest turkey vulture migration over a single location north of Mexico in 1994. The event is now the focus of the annual two-day event that monitors a consistently healthy bird population.

“We’ll see an average of about 30,000 vultures annually along the migration route in the South Fork Valley,” says Alison Sheehey, Outreach Program Coordinator for the Kern River Preserve, “with a good day count being about 4,000 birds. Our counts are also critical to the ongoing military activities in the area. A group of 4,000 vultures can pose a serious problem to aircraft, and we furnish information to the military to help prevent any potentially catastrophic contact with the birds.”

The Kern Valley Turkey Vulture Festival is sponsored by Audubon–California, Kern River Valley Revitalization Committee, and Friends of the Kern River Preserve. The Audubon organization is dedicated to protecting birds and wildlife and the habitat that supports them.  “A lot of people come out for the vulture festival,” says Sheehey, “but we have many activities going on at the Preserve year round, including our work with hummingbirds and migratory butterflies, like the Painted Ladies we see coming through the area. Come out and pay us a visit. We have a new visitor center now being built, which should make things even nicer in the future.” For more information, visit http://kern.audubon.org/index.htm and http://natureali.org/