A bald eagle, two falcons, and 16 turkey vultures are circling over

[GreenPartyVoter]

the wodds next to my house.

Should I go investigate? (and if so I have to take the 5 yo with me.)

[Shell Beau]

1. There is some kind of food they ALL want. Who will win?

Can the 2 Falcons beat out the Eagle? Can 16 vultures beat them all? I wonder what it is?

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Well they seem too close to be over the dump down the road, so

I am guessing a dead deer? The ravens were hanging out here earlier this morning but seem to have left since the others came along.

[Shell Beau]

3. But usually eagles and falcons don't scavenge. They

like to kill their prey! But eagles tend to eat fish, so if it is a dead deer, that may be why.

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Well, we have eagle who get snacks at the dump. One of them killed himself

when he got entangles with the power lines a few years ago. :cry:

I get to see a lot of birds here. There's a blue heron who flies overhead here every evening and we frequently get osprey and sea gulls. And then there are all the little songbirds.

Not a bad place to be if you like birdies. :)

[Shell Beau]

7. Yeah! It sounds as if there is a nice variety.

They do scavenge at times. But nothing like nasty vultures. I have seen a hawk swoop down and catch a snake one time. It was cool. I also saw one flying with a mouse in its talons.

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. The one thing I never see is owls. I hear them, but never see them. I do

see osprey swoop and get fish but have not seen a hawk do his thing. Had a neighbor once whose kitten almost became hawkfood, but fortunately she heard the ruckus and saved him.

[Shell Beau]

11. Yeah, I have a dog small enough to become food only

for a really big hawk or eagle. But the other dogs in my yard keep all birds away. Birds just know better. But I have had an owl flying right beside my car one night. It was so cool. He didn't stay there long, but it was unbelievable.

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. I saw a snowy owl on a phone line and he was so heavy that thing just

sank beneath all his weight. He was a beast! I didn't get to see him fly, though. :(

[Shell Beau]

13. I bet he was gorgeous!! Owls are so beautiful.

Our zoo had a baby owl the last time I went. It was a tiny little thing. So cute.

[miss_kitty]

18. Vultures aren't nasty, hon

we'd be up to our asses in detritus if it weren't for the likes of scavengers! They do the job no one else wants to.

:hi:

[Lilyhoney]

19. Vultures sure are one ugly looking bird,

But they are loved. I watched this wild life show the other day where this guy was helping the vulture in one particular area, with much success.

Then at the height of his success, a local farmer baited a carcass with poision, trying to kill something else and ended up killing like 30 of the vultures and numerous other animale instead. I cried. Who would have thought I would ever cry for a vulture?

Although if a vulture were eyeballin me, I would be worried.

[Shell Beau]

21. I feel for all animal life. I wouldn't want any vulture to die, even

though I do think they are nasty. They are birds just like eagles and hawks. They smell road kill up to 25 miles away. That is amazing!
Scavengers are just different, that's all. I love all birds and animals. But I am like you, if one were eying me, I'd be :scared:

[Shell Beau]

20. I know! I am thankful for them, but they are nasty birds.

They are ugly as I don't know what. I know we need them, but still...

:P :hi:

[miss_kitty]

22. They don't fit our peceived notions of beauty

but they are gorgeous (and) graceful gliders. I wouldn't want to eat what they eat though-THAT'S nasty! :D

[Shell Beau]

24. I think their bald heads and beady eyes creep me out (not to

mention their diet!)


These are the kind in my parts (the black vulture)





(turkey vulture)

[hunter]

27. Turkey vultures are sweet birds.

They are sort of like flying puppies.

I once saw a bunch of them "fighting" over a dead squirrel. As I watched them longer, I realized they were playing, not fighting.

I also suspect they soar sometimes just for the fun of it.

If you want to see birds fight over food, watch seagulls. They are good looking birds, but they are nasty.

[Lisa]

29. i looked after one once ...

They are indeed much like dogs ... this one would follow me around. At first I thought it was because I was feeding the other birds and he wanted treats, but he would do it even when I was empty-handed.

He let my father pet him, but tried to bite both of the guys I dated (at various times). I later found out that the vulture's assessment of them was entirely correct!

Once you got past his balding head (and there surely are lots of humans who are in the same situation) --his eyes were dark amber colored (not beady -- close-up you could see the pupils), and he had beautiful eyelashes!

[AlienGirl]

34. Vultures are big sweeties

They imprint on humans easily, but even non-imprinted vultures are friendly. They're smart, and because they have no natural enemies, they have pretty even-keel temperaments.

Tucker

[jpak]

35. A local wildlife rehabber has an albino turkey vulture

It's gorgeous and squeaky clean.

(and it didn't puke on me when I petted it)

:)

[AlienGirl]

39. Aw, you didn't get puked on?

You know regurgitating on you is a sign of affection, right?

Tucker

[Lisa]

43. Socrates would sometimes vomit when he was scared ...

I was carrying him over to another building once, and a car backfired nearby. He promptly threw up (and his usually-red face turned pale -- another sign of agitation). Given that the reason he'd been injured in the first place, and ended up at the clinic, was being hit by a car ... no wonder he disliked motor vehicles.

[atomic-fly]

4. Maybe Cheney is in town!

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. *lol*

[yellowcanine]

8. Does Tom Delay live there? Maybe you should go over and check for

a corpse.

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. It would be righteous for a bald eagle to take out a Republican

[underpants]

14. and the bartenders says.....

:bounce:

[Shell Beau]

15. Is that flying golden poo?

:crazy:

[underpants]

16. Why yes, yes it is

FLYING POO

[Shine]

17. I take it you don't live in Suburbia!!

That's a helluva lotta wildlife you got there! :)

[GreenPartyVoter]

37. No, I live in a rural area on the Maine coast. :^)

[SpiralHawk]

23. Thirteen Eagles and One Falcon

Your story puts in mind my friend Joe Soto of the Taino (one of the Arawak Nations who have inhabited the Carribean since long before Columbus showed up).

At any rate, back in Sept. 1995 Joe drove down to Florida to be with his father, who had to undergo emergency surgery. While waiting in his dad's house, his friend Running Fawn had a sudden premontion. She encouraged Joe to go out and look around.

When he went out his attention was caled to the sky. He saw 13 eagles and one falcon circling above. To him, in that moment, it was clear. The 13 eagles represented the 13 Arawak Nations of this hemisphere, and the falcon was a sign that a powerful new leader had just been born among the people.

If Joe read the signs aright, and I have every confidence that he did, then that would make the child about age 10 now...

[Lilyhoney]

28. Thank you for sharing.

:hi: I have always trusted my moments of clarity.

[GreenPartyVoter]

38. I did wonder if there was more meaning to the birds than just

"lunchtime".

The last interesting thing I saw birdwise happened at the beginning of the month when a murder of ravens gathered in the tree next to my neighbor's house. They came straggling in by 2s, 3s, and 4s. And every time a new set came in ALL the birds would take it in turn to say something, almost as if they were introducing themselves, "Hello, my name is Marie and I just flew in with Arnie and Oswald from Penobscot." *l*

Ravens and crows are very smart birds. Ancient warriors feared them because they would follow their armies on days when battles were expected. They knew there was a big payoff for all their waiting around coming.

[hunter]

25. Sometimes they'll share a good updraft...

...like people sharing an elevator.

[WCGreen]

26. I thought this was a joke.....

[GreenPartyVoter]

40. *lol* Let me know if you come up with good punchline?

[bigwillq]

30. Take a pic

of them circling. That would be a cool lokking pic.

[GreenPartyVoter]

41. Unfortunately the batteries in the camera were dead or I would have done

so. :^(

[bigwillq]

45. Buy some batteries!

:D

[Hobarticus]

31. Naw, just sharing an updraft.

Heat's rising out of the woods, and they're just cruising.

[Flaxbee]

32. hey - do you live in western NC?

'cuz I went by the dump earlier today, and it looked like there were up to 30 large birds circling - definitely some turkey vultures up there.

LOTS OF BIG BIRDS circling above the dump....

[GreenPartyVoter]

42. Nope, eastern Maine. :^) Musta been a good day for birds, though

[pitohui]

33. i would certainly check it out

who knows what is actually down on the ground feasting? definitely worth a look

[KG]

36. sounds like the democratic party must be in there. best stay away

it won't be pretty.

[hickman1937]

44. I'd go have a look.

If you can find someone to stay with the 5yo. If it's human, family might like to know.