Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
It’s International Vulture Appreciation Day! Yes, that really is a ‘day.’
These scavengers, while not particularly pretty, are essential to the Earth’s ecosystem. They only eat carrion helping to perform the role of garbage man and preventing the spread of disease from carcasses.
Here a Turkey Vulture circles overhead in Longmont, Colorado back in July. I think it thought I and my friend were going to be a meal. ;-)?
Turkey Vultures, or ‘buzzards’ as some may call them, probably wouldn’t win any bird beauty contests. Their featherless red head and white bill are unique and perhaps only a face a mother could love.
However, when they take to the skies, they soar with the greatest of ease and their sheer size will oftentimes have folks mistake them for eagles or large hawks.
This past weekend I came across 10 or so of these circling some fields, most likely looking for a meal. Having so many of these large birds in one area circling is not unusual but it is a pretty cool sight to see. The kettle was kind enough to oblige with a number of flyovers allowing me to get some nice in-flight shots.
Taken in Longmont, Colorado.
Watching the behavior of animals is always fascinating and yesterday I saw some interesting stuff. My son and I were observing an Osprey nest and taking pictures of them when some large birds appeared in the sky and began circling.
The male Osprey became alerted to the presence of these interlopers and began circling his mate and their nest (presumably with some hatchlings). It was obvious he did not like the fact these other birds were nearby, even though they never really came close.
The other birds were Turkey Vultures, some of which we tracked down later and got pictures of (see my post from earlier today). Given that they normally feed on carrion, they didn’t really present a threat to the Osprey nest but the parental protective instinct of the Osprey was on full display.
Here you see the male Osprey on one of its rounds as the vultures pass behind.
While out and about on a photo drive yesterday, my son and I spotted six of these birds circling and heading west. The Turkey Vultures disappeared from our sight but we ended up finding them again dining on Prairie Dog carrion in a field.
We spent an hour watching them as they took turns picking apart their meal. The case could certainly be made that these are some of the ugliest birds in the world – my son certainly thinks so. While certainly not pretty, I tend to think they are kind of neat.
These large birds can have wingspans approaching six feet across and when flying high in the sky are often mistaken for hawks or eagles. Taken in Longmont, Colorado.
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