I was checking out the storm Thursday morning, and that’s when I spotted it. Hanging low in our woods, almost aiming for the pond, then back up again. I’m sure it was trying to stay out of the wind gusts, but it moved like it was not affected by them at all.
Turkey Vultures!
Yep, we officially know it is spring when they show back up. They fly over heading north-northeast every spring. Then we get to see them going back in the fall. Have no clue where they are going to or from, but love to see them.
They are not as big as a Condor, but much larger than our area hawks. Guess I am just too much of a bird watching nut, so I naturally get excited when I see them. They are such smooth operators, even in our gust storms!
The first one I spotted was Thursday (3/31/16). It was all by itself which is very odd. Normally we see them like this:
This group I spotted at our local small town library about an hour ago. They were dipping in between the trees there – odd? I have seen them in groups of about 5 to around 10, and I know they do not fly straight. They do this huge loop-de-loop in the air, gradually floating off in the direction they want to go. Ducks and geese fly over all year long. They are in a “V” formation, but they still move like an arrow in a straight direction. The loop-de-loop is usually how I spot the vultures. Dead give away (ha ha – yes, pun intended!)
The way they were bobbing in and out of the trees, they seemed to be playing at the library. Shame on them! They were just far enough away and moved fast enough that I could not get a clean shot of one with my cell phone – Boo Hoo! Oh well, at least, I have a couple of pics. Would love to have one close up in the wild. I think they are a bit camera shy! Too bad, I have a business proposition for them…I will set out some of my chicken feed as a treat if they pick off some of our huge ugly gophers? Think they will bite?
Pocket Gopher: Prarie Dog
- Can’t tell here, but they have very long sharp teeth and claws.
- Are almost as big as a Prarie Dog.
- Take out the roots of EVERYTHING!
- Neither is cute or cuddly
- Both are dangerous (I actually saw some in a pet shop in WI – oooh nooo Mr. Bill! Now I hear they are having a prairie dog problem – duh!) and do not make good pets!
- Both will dig holes large enough for a goat, cow, or horse to break a leg in!
- Cattlemen and/or a good hunter can pick off a prairie dog on the plains – they are bold and brazen.
- Gophers are sneaky! If a cat or dog is patient, they may get one. Our guineas would rip it off if it ever had the guts to show its face to them – but nooo – they have too much fun tearing up all of our good fruit tree roots – jerks.
Well, I have news for them…soon it will be warm enough for our Bull snake momma to come out – wooo hooo – love her!!!
HELBERG FARM STORIES 
Wow, that is just about the most horrifyingly ugly bird I’ve ever seen! Maybe it wasn’t quite ready for such a close up 😉
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Hi Laura – think I confused you a bit…the close up in the header at the top of the page is a guinea bird (see my older blog on those funky creatures – yep, their faces do look like that). I do not have a face close up of the vultures. boo hoo Tried to take on at the zoo once, but even they were camera shy. And I agree – the guinea is ugly, but we don’t have them for their looks..they are outstanding pest killers – grasshoppers, beetles, even snakes and mice!
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Hi, thanks for clearing that up, I’ve never seen either of them. At least the guinea birds are good for something… with that face I would think most things would be afraid of them 😉
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We see turkey vultures quite often just doin their loop dee loops up and down the highway. There is usually some kind of road kill they can feast on. I once saw a large flock of them roosting in the pine trees across the county road from our house. A big thunder storm was a brewing so there were no hot updrafts for them to soar. They probably didn’t want to get drenched or struck by lightening either. They are a helpful part of nature,but they are kinda ugly to me. 😀
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Ok, there is something we don’t agree on (boo hoo) – I find them BEAUTIFUL! hee hee Mainly because I picture them demolishing the prairie dogs – wooo hooo (now I really hate those buggers and the huge gophers – if they don’t stay out of my gardens I will sick my snake after them – hahahaha
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Nice capture of the vultures. We have buzzards, as we call them, in Arkansas year round. They are
hard to capture on a camera – they never glide through the air currants in a straight line. They normally only eat dead animals. Enjoyed your post and the pictures of the Gopher and Prairie Dog too.
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Thanx Lizzie! Buzzards works too! LOL They are hard to get on film – I have a bestest buddy that is great at taking pics, some of these beauties hang out at her place of work in Sterling and she is gonna try to get some better close-ups for me – hope it works!?!
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Aww, Sterling! I have fond memories of that town.I lived 40 miles away in Sidney, Nebraska. We had some close family friends that lived there. I spent a couple of weeks with them one summer. Also I could go there when I was 18 and go to the bar. My best friend and I were frequent visitors to the Wooden Keg. It was a 3.2 bar. You could drink beer or wine coolers. If you wanted the hard stuff you still had to be 21 and go down the block to the Silver Dollar. 😀
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I swear there were a ton of “Silver Dollar” saloons in CO back in the 80’s!! There was one in Denver/Littleton area I used to hang in way back when. Have not visited any in Sterling, but do hang out there a lot! There’s a fantastic yarn store on the main drag. Love to buy on the net, but there is still a deep passion for the feel of the different types – and they have it all!!
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