Meeting Today – The swallows of Capistrano? How about the turkey vultures of Lewiston?
Many people are familiar with the swallows of Capistrano, these birds show up, almost as if on cue, every year on March 19, St. Joseph’s Day, at the Mission San Juan Capistrano in California. Probably not as well-known are turkey vultures of Lewiston. Yes, those large soaring birds appear in all their majesty right around March 15 to the Village of Lewiston. The birds are beautiful in flight, forming a slight V-shape with their large wings. They can catch thermal updrafts and soar seemingly forever without flapping their wings. What they show in beauty in the air is, how to delicately put it, somewhat dampened by the appearance of their faces. Their featherless-faces look a bit frightening to some. Also as they are scavengers, some consider them harbingers of death. But their clean heads allow them to dig right in to carrion and not make a mess of any feathers.
Soon other harbingers of spring will arrive. One of those is the Earth Day celebration at Niagara University on April 22. The sustainability committee needs your help and input. All are welcome to attend the meeting today, Wednesday, March 26, in St. Vincent’s Hall, Room 107, at 12:20 p.m. to help with planning this event and make suggestions regarding other initiatives.