vultures are back!

Went out in the living room this morning and saw two huge black birds again! One on the railing by the rain barrel, and one perched on the little end of the vertical 4x4 where the falling oak broke the rail.

That one flew as soon as I appeared -- it was only about 4 feet from the window. The other waited until I was almost ready to take the picture, of course, then decamped.

(Couldn't locate the Olympus on short notice, and the phone's exposure meter has gone totally wonky, but here's documentation, anyway. Better pictures from August are on Flickr.)

backyard birdies

I am, perforce, spending the summer at Sycamore Street in town, where there is an access ramp, Meal on Wheels, easy visiting by friends and helpers. I have some VERY UNUSUAL backyard birds here. The acre of post oaks has always housed lots of birds including screech owls and mourning doves as well as the mockers, jays, chickadees, and so forth. But as far as I know, this is the first year that black vultures have raised young here.

I first saw them back in April or May, making an extremely clumsy landing on the deck railing by the rain barrel at the back of the house. Startled me! At close range they're HUGE. Also the young ones can fly much better than they can land -- that takes more practice. 

As the summer has gone on, they continue to come for water and to perch on nearby dead branches (too many of them after last summer) or often on the railing. What with my caregiver coming, daily Meals on Wheels volunteers, and a number of visitors, they have gotten quite blasé and tame about people. Alerted by their rhythmic, raspy vocalizations, I got to the window with my camera the other day. Half a dozen photos are up on Flickr. The photos suffer from being taken through an excessively dirty window -- "levels" and "saturation" can only do so much. 

I have had a breeding pair of black vultures for years out at Red-bird Ridge seven miles outside of town, but these semi-tame guys are quite something. Most of my visitors have seen them now, which tends to give then quite a thrill