Monday, April 14, 2008

Out in the Country

Just a mile from home I saw a hawk soaring through the sky. I had my camera along but didn't think I could stop and catch the picture in time. As I drove on Hannah said, "Mom, there were three more sitting on top of the barn." Odd, I thought, but decided to turn around and check it out for myself. On my way back down the road I saw two flying birds and, sure enough, there on top of the barn were two more large birds. I wondered what they were doing up there. Hannah snapped a couple pictures, then I turned the van around and snapped a couple myself. When I took a closer look at the pictures, I found that whatever was on the barn was definitely not a hawk, it looked more like a turkey. I thought it strange for turkeys to be sitting on a barn roof.
After returning home and completeing several odd jobs around the house, I put in a call to my favorite bird lady. "Those are turkey vultures," said my mom. (Kinda what I had been thinking...) "And the bird you saw flying was probably another one," Mom continued, "Your father and I saw some just the other day." Mom and Dad grew up seeing all kinds of wildlife. I've lived in the same general vicinity my entire life, and this is the first time I ever recall seeing turkey vultures.

8 comments:

  1. Very cool indeed. I was always taught that they circled around carin.
    Ps; come back and look at T and Durwood acting up pictures dated Sunday so you can comment for her....Please? Thanks dear friend. She misses getting to blog, she can't do much at work, she is under constant observation.

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  2. Cool! I don't think I've ever seen a turkey vulture before.

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  3. Neato! Yesterday morning, on my way to work, I (and another driver) nearly ran into a suicidal turkey. He flew right in front of us and across the road into the woods. His buddies were a little wiser and waited till the traffic thinned out.

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  4. You've lead a sheltered life. One time there were about 3 in my back yard. You should have seen Sherman run like the wind to try to catch them. They all took off at once and flew over the house.

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  5. Well, Priscilla, I've heard that these nice looking birds like to hang out around dead and decaying animals, so I don't feel so bad about not seeing them in my backyard.

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