Not everyone's cup of tea, but I took some cool Vulture pictures.

[bluesbassman]

Some people are put off by these birds, but they're an important part of the food chain and uniquely adapted for what they do. I also find their flight to be quite beautiful and calming. Anyway, I was out for a hike near the ridge yesterday morning and ran into a venue flying, drying their wings and just hanging out. The bird in the bottom pics was pretty low in a tree and let me get about 15 feet away.

[emilyg]

1. Beautiful - thanks

[bluesbassman]

4. You're welcome, and thank you.

:)

[MiddleFingerMom]

2. Excellent and IMPRESSIVE pictures. WOW!!! Thanks.

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[bluesbassman]

5. LOL, sometimes it just works out that way.

:rofl:

Thanks for the kudos.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

3. gorgeous

[bluesbassman]

6. Thanks Priya.

:hi:

[petronius]

7. Nice work! (#1 and #4 in particular)

Vultures really are fun to watch fly and hop around - I especially enjoy seeing them on our local sand dunes, where they seem interestingly out of place...

[bluesbassman]

8. Thanks. Yeah, they're definitely more at home in the sky.

Never seen one on a sand dune, but I imagine they walk even goofier than the do on solid ground.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. Beautiful, my dear bluesbassman!

But I must say that the last pic is a bit scary! He looks like he's sizing you up as a possible meal! :scared:

[bluesbassman]

11. Aw, not too worried. I'm tough and stringy, and probably taste like chicken.

:rofl:

However, it was a little unsettling being that close to them. I've been around other large raptors too, and they definitely stare you down.

Glad you liked the pics. :)

[Dystopian]

10. !

Thank you for sharing...:hug:
The photos are beautiful ... the vultures are beautiful ...
exquisite ....


peace~

[bluesbassman]

13. Thanks D!

They really are, especially in flight. Clad you enjoyed the shots. :hug:

[fishwax]

12. very cool!

:kick:

[bluesbassman]

14. Thank you.

:hi:

[bigwillq]

15. Great shots!

:bounce:

[bluesbassman]

17. Thank you Will.

:)

[Lucinda]

16. Wonderful shots!

What camera do you use?

[bluesbassman]

18. Thanks Lucinda!

I have a Nikon D40X, and the lens I used for these shots is a Nikkor 70-200 1:2.8 zoom. Glad you liked them. :hi:

[Lucinda]

24. I have the Nikon Coolpix 4500 - love Nikons.

Thanks for the lens info. I'll have to check and see if that one works with mine. I need a better zoom option. My camera is great for regular macro work, but i don't have great luck with birdy zoomage. :)

[Major Nikon]

19. Vultures are amazing creatures

Thanks for posting.

[sarge43]

20. Lovely

The first resembles an ukiyo-e

[graywarrior]

21. Awesome photos, especially the last one.

[sarge43]

22. Yeah. "Mine?" n/t

[graywarrior]

25. !

:rofl:

[sarge43]

26. When hubster was working the ammo dump at D-M in AZ,

the vultures would be circling over head, catching the morning thermals. The noncoms would start on the one stripers.

"They know something."

"Yeah. We just got in a shipment of fresh meat."

"Newbies are still tender."

"Remember the time the one bird caught that kid on the fly. Cool."

"OK airman. Go rack 'n' stack 'em. Them birds are hungry."

[graywarrior]

28. We used to sit in our picture windows in Venice FL and watch the turkey buzzards have

lunch on roadkill.

[OriginalGeek]

43. I was just in Venice two weeks ago

My Aunt and Uncle live there. My grandma lived in Nokomis for 60some years. My mom and aunt grew up there and my little brother was born there.

My company has a branch there so I love when something breaks and I get to go fix it and then get supper with my Aunt and Uncle before driving back home.


on topic:
REALLY cool pics, BBM! I have a Nikon D3000...it came with a 70-200mm lens but I need a good macro lens (well, I guess they are calling them micro lenses now). But it seems like they are all 400~500 bucks and up for anything fast. Guess I gotta save lol...

[Brigid]

39. No, that's seagulls.

Though I guess it does suit buzzards just as well. :rofl:

[sarge43]

40. It would suit all birds.

Whoever said "eats like a bird" never took care of any or even watched them.

[hunter]

23. I like to watch them. They're very playful animals...

... like kittens.

Sometimes they circle above our yard just to tease the dogs.

Our neighbor has a bunch of little dogs, the kind that spin around in insane circles when they bark. I think the vultures find this amusing.

[amyrose2712]

27. Wow! Great shots!nt

[Withywindle]

29. A vulture is checking in at the airport...

"Would you like to check your bag?"

"No thanks, it's carrion."




I have always loved vultures beyond all reason. Crows and ravens too. I have a thing for large black birds. My spirit animal, if you believe in such things. Turkey vultures like these were extremely common where I grew up (SW VA mountains). As a child, sometimes I used to lie in a field and pretend to be dead in the hope that one would come down and I could catch it and keep it as a pet. :blush:


Gorgeous photos.

[deucemagnet]

30. Very nice pictures!

We have a lot of turkey vultures around here. A grad student I once worked with used to do research on turkey vultures. They would put bait out in a field and would capture them with some sort of a net-gun. As a part of the vultures' fight-or-flight response, they would immediately vomit once the net was fired. Vultures aren't particularly concerned about their meals passing the sniff test to begin with, and, according to this student, vulture vomit somehow makes the odor even more offensive. Needless to say, she was happy to be done with the vulture research!

[Withywindle]

31. Gross! (she said with a big grin on her face)

Trivia fact: California condors (which are members of the vulture family) will defecate all over their legs to keep them cool. They also do the barf-when-they're-scared thing.

One of nature's most magnificent creatures--from a distance.

[deucemagnet]

32. Yuk!

You have successfully one-upped my gross bird story. Brava, ma'am! Brava! :applause:


;)

[Demoiselle]

33. A "venue" of vultures!

I've heard of an exaltation of larks and a murder of crows but venue of vultures is new to me.
Beautiful pictures, wonderful birds. Their wings, among other things, are spectacular...Thanks.

[sarge43]

34. Also a wake of vultures. n/t

[Demoiselle]

35. That's perfect for obvious reasons.

"Venture" of vultures sounds a bit like leveraged buy-out artists, a la Mittens Romney and his company.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

36. great shots

really love the first one.

[Mendocino]

37. A few weeks back

I saw about 60 vultures perching on a church roof, with a very large dark forbidding cross thrust up amongst them. Looked like something from a horror film. Very creepy.

[Brigid]

38. We call them buzzards here in this part of the MW.

For some reason, it seems I see more of them these days, even here in Indy. :scared:

Cool pics, BTW. :)

[WillParkinson]

41. They're beautiful...and a bit scary

Awesome pictures. Thanks very much for sharing them.

[LibertyLover]

42. I love vultures - we have a number in the neighborhood

I live in. We also have ospreys. Whenever my greyhound bitch is out in the backyard and an osprey flies over, she jumps up at it and barks. Whenever a vulture flies over, she like, yeah, ok, whatever, have a nice day. It is very funny. One of my favorite Egyptian goddesses is Nekhebet, the vulture goddess.

[Taverner]

44. LOVE this pic!

[Skittles]

45. best vulture pics I have ever seen

yes INDEED

[Withywindle]

46. kick

because I just love these pictures so much. Beautifully done, and it's awesome that you could get that close!

[bluesbassman]

47. Thank you very much Withywindle! Here's a couple more just for you.

I'm overwelmed by the responses to these shots. It was a unique oportunity to be able to get that close to them as they were starting their day. I'm glad you and all the other Loungers have enjoyed these photos. :)

[Quantess]

48. I remember seeing 3 vultures on the railroad tracks in a suburb as I drove by.

I thought they were chickens that got loose, so I stopped the car, got out and called "here chicken!" Until I got close enough to see they weren't chickens. They just stared at me. :D

[Luciferous]

49. Very nice- the first one is my favorite.

[geardaddy]

50. Cool! Excellent photos!

Are those Turkey Vultures?

[bluesbassman]

51. Thnks geardaddy. Yes, those are Turkey Vultures. n/t