Well - just a little know "holiday" wish to all - HAPPY BUZZARD DAY!!!! OK, it's well known back were I grew up. Just as the swallows come back to San Juan Capistrano every year - the buzzards return to Hinckley, Ohio. A little history:

"

The legend of the annual return
of the buzzards (turkey vultures) to Buzzard Roost in the
Cleveland Metroparks goes back nearly a century in Hinckley
history.

Legend has it that they were
first attracted by the tons of butchering refuse and unwanted game
left behind in the great Hinckley Hunt of 1818, but additional
historical research among the records of the Sylvester Library of
Medina uncovered an old manuscript by William Coggswell, who as a
youth with his uncle, Gibson Gates, were the first white men to
set foot in the township in 1810. This manuscript told of their
expedition from Bath and Richfield through Hinckley, and of
finding the "vultures of the air" at the gallows at Big
Bend of Rocky River around the foot of the ledges where the
Wyandots had hanged a squaw for witchcraft two years before. This
indicated that these turkey vultures had made their home on
Hinckley Ridge long before the white men settled west of the
Cuyahoga River, and it moved their occupancy back into the midst
of the Indians legend.

In 1957 a reporter from the
Cleveland Press became interested in a claim by Metroparks Ranger
Walter Nawalaniec. He told the reporter that he had personally
observed the buzzards arrival in Hinckley each March 15 for the
past six years and that his predecessor, the late Charlie Willard
had kept a personal log of their arrival for the past 23
years. 

The reporter's interest was
aroused. He wrote in the February 15, 1957 issue of a Cleveland
paper that longtime legend of the Hinckley Buzzards. He further
predicted their return in exactly one month - March 15. 

Excitement mounted as the month
progressed. Naturalists, ornithologists and reporters repeated and
embellished the original story and suspense mounted. March 15
arrived and so did the buzzards - who arrived right on schedule at
2 PM that day, a Friday, news traveled fast and the weekend
brought throngs of sightseers from all over Ohio and neighboring
states.

The township was unprepared for
the 9,000 plus visitors that flocked the township that year but by
1958 plans had been made to welcome the interested visitors.

Carl and Catherine Neu, turkey
farmers, stepped in to see that Hinckley would be better hosts
that year. Edward Spatz of the HInckley Chamber of Commerce and
others joined in the effort.

The township proclaimed the
first Sunday after March 15 as Buzzard Sunday. Forty-plus years
later thousands of visitors continue to attend the pancake and
sausage breakfast, hosted by the Hinckley Chamber of Commerce, at
Hinckley Elementary School. Organizations from the township are
invited to help and provide exhibits and information about their
activities. Crafters and artists fill the classrooms with their
wares. Many township volunteers assist in the Chamber with this
annual breakfast.

The Cleveland Metroparks
welcome visitors yearly on March 15 to the Buzzard Roost in
Hinckley Reservation. With a traditional "Buzzard
Spotter" (for many years retired ranger Roger Lutz and now
the chief naturalist Robert Hinkle) the first buzzard's time of
arrival is clocked. The event is hailed as a sign of spring in the
Midwest by all who attend."

So...... Happy Buzzard Day to all and to all a great week!!!

Bill 

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