Around 4:00 p.m. at Riley's Lock (Seneca) along the C&O Canal, I heard a 
commotion from high up in a sycamore near the river. Suddenly a juvenile 
Black Vulture crashed awkwardly to the ground, clutching a small branch of 
the walnut tree through which it had fallen. The bird was shaken but seemed 
to have injured only its dignity, and it soon walked off into the nearby 
bushes. Up in the tree, a second juvenile vulture sat preening itself 
unconcernedly. (Siblings are like that.) I don't think these young'uns are 
quite ready to soar on thermals just yet.

Janet Millenson
Potomac, MD (Montgomery County)

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"Look at the birds!" -- Pascal the parrot