Flock of Vultures

Flock of Vultures


There was a huge flock of vultures in my backyard this morning. Our house backs up to a large wooded ravine with a small creek down below, and we have all sorts of wildlife back there - deer, raccoons, Sasquatch.....

I was in my office checking my e-mail this morning when there was a flickering shadow across my face and I looked up to see an enormous bird - I thought it was a hawk at first - swooping past my window. As I followed his path I saw another huge winged creature, then another... then I grabbed my crappy camera (with no zoom) to document the swarm of at least 20.

They didn't linger. They mostly swooped around the ravine and looked menacing - like The Jets looking for a rumble. They perched on tree limbs, acted all cool, and then left about 15 minutes later. It wasn't their scene, I guess.

My bird-watching neighbor called, "Do you see those birds? They're Turkey Vultures! Is there a dead deer in the ravine?"

I see nothing dead down there, but you never know, there's a lot of brush and it's a large area. My guess is that they were just passing through. Giving us all a reminder of life's brevity....and a case of the willies a la Hitchcock.....



Yes, Mattel did actually create a Tippi Hedron from The Birds doll.

Nature can be strange.

When we bought this house the former owners told us all about the Wood Duck nest boxes they had constructed in the back yard. Then, totally randomly, the husband said:

"Yeah, one morning I was having my coffee, watching the birds, when I saw this raccoon climb down a tree, reach into the duck box, grab a baby out and snap its neck in two."

I gasped in horror.
He shrugged. "It's just nature."

Yes, well, I'm one to hide my eyes when clicking through nature programs that show lions eating zebras, or animals suffering in any way. Yes, I understand Survival of the Fittest and all that, but I can't help but think there must be a less barbaric way..... Clearly, I'm delusional....


Turkey vultures are menacing as hell:



Uggh, look at that razor sharp beak and those talons!!!! It looks like an alien creature from Star Wars.


Anyway, this is what I've learned this morning (from Wikipedia):

• It finds its meals using its sense of smell, flying low enough to detect the gasses produced by the beginnings of the process of decay in dead animals. *shudder*



• In flight, it uses thermals to move through the air, flapping its wings infrequently.



• Lacking a syrinx—the vocal organ of birds—its only vocalizations are grunts or low hisses.

Ack! Imagine having a little nap out in the backyard, communing with mother nature, the bees, the butterflies, when suddenly this hissing, grunting, Skeksis-like beast swoops down from the heavens with kamikaze intent, baring his flesh ripping claws and snapping his snarling, hatchet-like beak, sniffing your aura for a whiff of decaying flesh...

*bristles*
I'm going to look for some pretty flowers now....
Unicorns, rainbows and bunnies....Oh my!