Turkey Vultures.....I don't think that anyone would ever call them a "pretty" bird. Interesting maybe, distinctive...OK, but pretty?.....No!
We went to southern Illinois yesterday and arrived at the Old Shawneetown river front just as the Turkey Vultures were getting ready to settle down for the night.
Note the dirty feet......a couple of them landed in the mud at the edge of the river before this one flew up to this post for me to take photos of it.
A group of about 11 that were on the river front.
Most of them were settling on this power pole over in "new" Shawneetown. The town was moved years ago after it had been flooded many times by the Ohio River. A few people still live in Old Shawneetown, and I'm sure this year they were flooded once again.....very heavily! I think the vultures may be smarter than the people.
Close-up to show how many.....lots!
Some were still lazily flying around trying to decide which town they wanted to settle in for the night :-)
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8 comments:
Hi Mary...couldn't agree with you more....ugly!!
They do a great job though at keeping the dead stuff cleaned up!!
What do they eat there...there are so many of them???
There a a small group around here I see them everyday and love to watch them soar!!
Love the power pole photo so funny ...so where did the spend the night??
Oh wow,what a sight all those Vultures must have been.
They certainly are one ugly bird Mary.{:)
Grammie G: I'd say most of them ended up on the power pole. There is a bridge across the Ohio there also, and more may have roosted on the bridge. They seem to like roosting near water at night. I'm always amazed at how many will gather in one area.
I've seen bunches of them sitting on the branches of dead trees before, and once I saw them all lined up along the peak of a house roof, but I have never seen so many at once.
Pretty is not the best name for them, but gracefull definitely is. I enjoy watching them soar with the wind currents.
They are ugly, indeed! My Hubby got a kick out of T-shirt he saw that pictured two Vultures waiting in an old tree. The caption said, "Patience, H..., I'm going to KILL something!"
Wow! That is a lot of buzzards....they have the penthouse view!
I've seen lots of Turkey Vultures, but never that many. Excellant find Mary.
B.
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