vultures

Vultures never are on anybody's list of cute & cuddly, or even on the list of admired animals. But Rob MacGrogan has some good words for them in a blog called Spruce Pine Cottage.

Actually I am kind of on the same page as Rob because I have lately been learning to appreciate vultures myself. There is a huge roost of them on the cliffs below our lake cabin. I have counted at least fifty as they start gathering just around sunset. It can be a bit intimidating to see that many of the big birds circling over you. They look graceful in flight. Not at all like the caricatures I am used to from cartoons or stories. And they really are big too. It is something just to hear the rustle of their wings as they settle in for the night.

Most of the lakedwellers don't like them and try to run them off with loud noises. But they just move on to the next property.

Did you know they are a protected species? I suppose because they perform a useful service, keeping the roads and countryside cleaned of rotting flesh.

But I want to say a few more words about Spruce Pine Cottage because it also has some good profiles of native plants. Even though we are not in the same state we have most of the same native species here.

Posted by Bill Hopkins on March 15, 2005 07:22 PM
Comments

Is there such a bird as a turkey vulture? (I suppose I could simply Google it). I've never seen a vulture before, other than the injured one being cared for at our zoo. 50 at once would be quite the sight.

Posted by: Leslie at March 15, 2005 08:54 PM

OOO The lights are blinking...gonna lose power, better post this quick...
I had a flock of Turkey Vultures that would sit in the old craggy cottonwood tree in the back yard in Nevada, And Yes they were very intimidating they would all turn face me and spread their wings to sun themselves and then crane their necks down to see if I had anything to eat.

Posted by: mary lou at March 16, 2005 12:26 PM

When I was in the Galapagos Islands last November there was a frequent sighting of a certain bird - it was a frigate bird..........this bird reminded me of a vulture - it would swoop down upon the nests of the boobies & swipe the eggs or the baby chicks - I actually saw a frigate steal a baby boobie chick from a nest...........I wasn't fast enough to get a picture.........When I present my presentations of my trip I remark that the frigate bird is the "bad guy" of the Galapagos........

Posted by: Dottie at March 16, 2005 08:06 PM

Bill -- In my youth I remember camping at a state park in Limestone County in the winter and coming across the trees out on a point where all the buzzards were roosting. It was as if they were all dressed in the funereal clothing of Victorian London, black, drab, messy. An amazing sight.

Posted by: don at March 18, 2005 12:46 PM

I enjoy watching the vultures soaring over the hillsides near us. They are graceful and efficient flyers, a joy to behold.

Yes, Leslie, there is a bird called the turkey vulture, but it is not usually dined upon at Thanksgiving. This is, in fact, the species which is most commonly seen in these here United States.

Posted by: Joel at March 18, 2005 11:43 PM