I haven’t had many Turkey Vultures in my viewfinder since they returned on spring migration this year so I was happy to spot one on Saturday morning that I could photograph. It was more skittish than I would have liked though because it flew from a close perch on the ground out to some distant lichen-covered rocks away from the road.
Adult Turkey Vulture on a June morning – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
I actually like where the Turkey Vulture landed though because it shows some of the habitat I find these birds in. The vulture was about to scratch its head when I took this image. There were gnats and mosquitoes in the area and they seemed to bother this bird almost as as much as they were annoying me.
The only thing I don’t like in this photo is that I can see dried cheat grasses on the rocks because they are invasive, have already become tinder dry, and seeing them reminded me of how combustible cheat grass is compared to native grasses, how our wildfire season has already begun and how awful it could be again this year.
The rest of the photo… I love.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to view more of my Turkey Vulture photos plus facts and information about this species.
Turkey vultures were once very rare here…I never even saw a single one…but, remember my excitement when I was on my way to work in a humanistic WALKABOUT/OUTWARD BOUND adaptive school, and I saw my first one!!! I was so excited, I could barely talk…now we have lots of them…and the more aggressive, Black Vultures. They ride the thermsls, swoop and glide so beautifully….
Sigh. I hope your fire season is short and no major calamaties ensue.
Love the Turkey vulture.
Vultures are a bird we don’t have.
Your Turkey Vulture shots never fail to bring a smile to my face. 🙂 I truly enjoy these amazing birds. Fabulous perch and love the foot “in transit” to the itch.
I like the composition, cheat grass and all. I did not see any Turkey Vultures yesterday. I did see an amazing number or ravens on the way to the Spiral Jetty. Also I saw something I have never seen before, huge flocks of Franklin’s Gulls gleaning insects while flying just above the sage brush and grass tops.
April, I’ve seen the huge flocks of Franklin’s snatching insects from the air and it is fascinating behavior that I wish I could capture on “film”. They were doing that on Saturday too. Once I saw them by the hundreds skimming just barely over the sage gleaning insects from the air too. They really are wonderful birds.