Showing off!

Close, Josh, but no cigar. The turkey vulture you photographed is a raptor, but not Buteo buteo, the Eurpoean Buzzard, which is a variety of hawk. Yes, both birds eat meat, but only the hawks, eagles, falcons kill their dinner, while vultures look for something someone else killed. Having said that, an ex-family member once raised a baby turkey vulture. They fed it only cooked meat, and it never learned to eat road kill. Funny thing, it bonded with his young rescuer, and would follow him to the school bus stop until the bus came, then the bird would return to the farm house. But it knew when to return to the bus stop to welcome his master home. They're smarter than they look. We love to sit on the deck and watch them soar over the valley below our house. Sometimes they roost in the trees behind the house, which is a sight when 7 to 12 choose various limbs to sit on. We tell them: "We're old, but not THAT old."

Simply "Beautiful" Pictures

Yup, you're right. He's not on my list. I haven't ever seen a buzzard in my backyard. However, it reminds me of a joke...

Two buzzards sitting in a tree out in west Texas. One simply looks at the other and says, "Patience, hell, let's kill something."

I see them circling around from time to time, but haven't had the chance to grab an image yet. All birds have their places....like you and me and the guy we don't understand.

The small town I used to live in had them in huge flocks. They would hang out on the rip-rap of the resevoir and sun themselves. I've seen hundreds of them at a time. Mother Nature can be really strange sometimes.

Thanks for the correct name Nonna, I can't imagine having one for a pet, and following me to school!
There is only one other thing I can think of that's uglier and that's a coyote, and I've never seen one till this morning while waiting for the bus to pick me up for school, across the street this one was sitting there. I hear them at night, but haven't seen any. This one was hurt, it was limping, maybe a car had hit it.



I have a prettier picture I took today, it's a Eastern Bluebird,

Josh, you're getting good fast. Keep up the practice!! Great bluebird shot. The composition is very nice. And, your depth of field is excellent.

Josh, your picture of the Eastern Bluebird is wonderful! I've never seen one in real life. But then, I've lived most of my life in Idaho, Oregon, Texas and Alaska....not part of Eastern Bluebird habitat. But we do try to maintain the local birds with three seed/suet feeders, and three hummingbird feeders. I also throw out baby chick scratch for the Towees and other ground feeding birds. Feeding birds, and living next door to coyotes is why we never allow our cats outdoors. BTW, we just recently visited the High Desert Museum near Bend, Oregon, which has an active raptor rescue program (the eagles, owls, falcons and, yes, "buzzards" they have on display are all rescue birds with enough permanent damage to prohibit their being reintroduced to the wild. Exhibit birds like the falcon with only one eye, the golden eagle missing part of a wing, etc. You may be interested in Googling "turkey vulture" which is a different species from the vultures revered in many Asian countries--I mainly think of India's appreciation of the vultures' place in the ecosystem. Keep the pictures coming, we enjoy them.

Awww....I think coyotes are beautiful, espeicially in winter when their coat is full. Funny how these have never bothered me. We have some on the back half of the property and they keep the rabbits and voles outta my garden, they may stay as long as they like. When I lived in AZ I used to think I would like to snag a coyote pup and raise it...LOL. Of course the snagging proved difficult. 13 years and I never saw a "pup".

MidMomma, I know this is off topic, but I've often noticed your quote from the Kris Kristoferson song: Bobby McGee, which Janis Joplin made famous, "Freedom is just....etc." Always liked that quote, too. We will be seeing a play next week entitled, "A Night with Janis Joplin." It's a new play, using some of the information contained in letters Janis wrote home while she was living in California. The Portland Center Stage snagged the play with the blessing of the Joplin family, and we understand the singer playing Janis has a similar, powerful, voice. I regret I never made it to one of her concerts in Austin back in the 60s, when she and other Texas "outlaws" were performing at Armadillo World Headquarters. Saw some of the others, but not Janis. How old does one have to be to enjoy nostalgia?

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:

Oh, and all you guys with your Orioles are KILLING me. I'd almost give my right arm to have one in my yard.

I wouldn't worry too much about not seeing an oriole. You have soooo much more than what goes on in my yard. Your pics are stunning!

I was lucky to see a blue jay a few days ago. We used have loads of blue jays and cardinals, and now I almost never see them.

Nonna.PapaVino wrote:MidMomma, I know this is off topic, but I've often noticed your quote from the Kris Kristoferson song: Bobby McGee, which Janis Joplin made famous, "Freedom is just....etc." Always liked that quote, too. We will be seeing a play next week entitled, "A Night with Janis Joplin." It's a new play, using some of the information contained in letters Janis wrote home while she was living in California. The Portland Center Stage snagged the play with the blessing of the Joplin family, and we understand the singer playing Janis has a similar, powerful, voice. I regret I never made it to one of her concerts in Austin back in the 60s, when she and other Texas "outlaws" were performing at Armadillo World Headquarters. Saw some of the others, but not Janis. How old does one have to be to enjoy nostalgia?

I guess old enough to have a memory?

Love it, MidMomma! Guess I still have some memory. BTW, when you hear them singing, wave at your coyotes for me. From the high-pitched yapping heard the other morning, we have a new batch of coyote pups in the forest down below the house. Haven't looked for their den, but the sounds are like those heard last year. I love listening to them when the young song dogs first start to learn the howling protocols.