Friday, April 18, 2008

Turkey Vulture in Flight

Turkey Vulture photo above taken June, 2007
While out for a drive on Wednesday morning I could see a large bird circling overhead and I was hoping it was a Turkey Vulture. And it was! How wonderful, I thought, for this was only my second sighting of Vultures this spring and I hadn`t yet gotten any pictures of one. As I watched it circling and getting closer I drove off onto a side road and into a parking area by a lake adjacent to the street. Getting out of the car I couldn`t believe my luck with such a close opportunity. Focusing my camera I took my first photo; then nothing else happened. Dead batteries! Going out again in the afternoon I saw two more Turkey Vultures on two different sightings. Again I encounter -ed camera problems for at this time my camera was set for single shots instead of a rapid continous series of shots. However the two pictures I was able to get shows the beauty and gracefullness of this large carrion eating bird. The Vulture`s flight feathers take on a greyish, silvery appearance when viewed from underneath and this can be seen in the photos.
I had no problems on this occasion of deciding which photos to post for these three are the only ones that I had taken.

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures!! You captured the details so perfectly. I keep meaning to mention the Robin Convention on the side! I think it's wonderful! I like all the pictures on the side menu, as well.

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  2. It is amazing that these birds can be beautiful. I saw a line of them once sunning themselves along a fence( no camera :() really neat sight. thanks for sharing

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  3. sandpiper:
    Thanks for mention of the Robin convention :-) I eagerly await the first arrival of Robins each spring, and then they become so commonplace so very quickly.

    stacey:
    I like to think all creatures are beautiful in their own uniqueness and I find Vultures have a beauty too, especially so when they are viewed in flight.

    island:
    The first one was really quite low and cropping brought the others closer too. There are quite a few Vulture in the location where they were taken. I had been away all week visiting and took advantage of going out and about hoping to find a few.

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  4. I think those are wonderful shots considering you had so many camera problems! I love the way the feathers look in that last shot...the black and the grey..almost like 2 birds stacked together. I'm amazed that the head shows so clearly in the early shots. My overhead shots are always so much more distant looking. Very nice post!

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  5. Great pictures, - dead batteries paluge me all the time at the mowt inopportune moments!!!!

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  6. mary:
    The head looks so small compared to the rest of its size doesn't it. The grey is always a surprise when I see it. I like your observation, "almost like two birds stacked together"

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  7. dada:
    Having a good harvest of charged batteries is like a river running free - smooth sailing.

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  8. Nice definitive photo of the wing pattern.

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  9. I just started to take a few photos of these wonderful birds two years ago.
    I had no idea at the time they were even around here but I see them quite frequently now.

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  10. ecarr:
    We saw them in the Welsford area first and still see them there quite frequently. We too were very surprised when we saw them overhead from our yard a year or so ago.

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