tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post6676144345286298985..comments2024-02-13T01:25:33.947-05:00Comments on The Gods Are Bored: Beautiful, Beautiful BuzzardsAnne Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15478513906953607043noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-76911364804562512242009-01-26T17:58:00.000-05:002009-01-26T17:58:00.000-05:00We've got buzzards out the wazoo. We've also had m...We've got buzzards out the wazoo. We've also had more miscellaneous raptors this year--which is why I wanted the "how to tell them apart in the air" lesson. <BR/>Thanks for the tip about the hissing. My eyesight is not always fabulous, but I can tell many birds by their songs/calls.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-71431032401155989742009-01-24T19:50:00.000-05:002009-01-24T19:50:00.000-05:00Last year I was standing in my back yard, quietly ...Last year I was standing in my back yard, quietly leaning against a stone wall, hanging out with and minding the cat. A turkey vulture silently dropped out of the tree behind me and sailed low off into the woods. His/her wingtip missed my shoulder by a couple of inches.<BR/><BR/><I>Okay,</I> I told little, morselly Maude, <I>we're going in now.</I>Thaliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09948272740932982138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-63690841264023189882009-01-24T17:26:00.000-05:002009-01-24T17:26:00.000-05:00Lavanah, I've heard that they smell bad. Never bee...Lavanah, I've heard that they smell bad. Never been close enough to a wild one to sniff it. I know they like to bathe in the summertime.Anne Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18083739996560380258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-65418392659180664912009-01-24T16:17:00.000-05:002009-01-24T16:17:00.000-05:00We have vultures. Sometimes they roost in the tre...We have vultures. Sometimes they roost in the trees of my yard. As amazing as they are to watch flying, I wish they would roost elsewhere. Its not the sound, its the smell-they smell like the carrion they eat. And, when it is really cold, they perch on the stack vent of my house, down which, their droppings fall and solidfy like cement. On the other hand, you have to respect a bird that will challange a car for the right to some roadkill, as 1 bird challanged me (in my car). I drove around the bird.Lavanahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295089071497942411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-40158034033515911042009-01-23T19:22:00.000-05:002009-01-23T19:22:00.000-05:00We don't have vultures around where I live, unless...We don't have vultures around where I live, unless you count hungry teens around a snack table. From videos I've seen of them (the vultures, not the teens) they look like they must be beautiful in flight.<BR/><BR/>We do have bagpipers, though, one of whom I live with! He usually practices in the garage, or outdoors in nice weather, but when it's too darn cold we do let him practice in the house. ;)Dancing With Feyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03493553137383118631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-11576978689516746122009-01-23T16:44:00.000-05:002009-01-23T16:44:00.000-05:00I recently saw four vultures in my parents' wooded...I recently saw four vultures in my parents' wooded backyard. My mother mentioned that she had not seen them there until the previous several days. As we watched the birds (amazing and almost prehistoric) I looked at the creek bed below for a food source. And found a deer, almost fully stripped to the bone. Sure enough, my mother reported the birds gone within a few days. We can embrace the cycle and work to sustain it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-69360705391340952802009-01-23T14:51:00.000-05:002009-01-23T14:51:00.000-05:00I used to work on the Los Padres National Forest; ...I used to work on the Los Padres National Forest; the land of the California Condor.<BR/><BR/>I remember when those big beautiful birds used to fly freely. They were such and impresive sight to behold (in flight, not so much when they were trying to take off with full bellies)<BR/><BR/>Saldy, the powers that be decided that they ALL (even those too old to breed) had to be removed from the wilderness to be raised in captivity to "save" the species (let's just call it forced extinction)<BR/><BR/>It was a sad and terrible thing to be around for.<BR/><BR/>I can neither confirm nor deny that someone may have bought the last condor (and old male, past breeding age) a few more weeks of soaring above his hills and valleys.<BR/><BR/>Many years later, when I was a ranger at Canyonlands National Park, I received an odd radio call from a ranger at Arches (Moab area of Utah)<BR/><BR/>As it turns out, one of the California Condors who had been released in the Vermillion Cliffs area of the Grand Canyon, decided to take a little trip up the Colorado River to say hello.<BR/><BR/>There is the sky, was one of my beloved condors (or one of thier offspring)<BR/><BR/>I'm going backpacking in the Grand Canyon in April, perhaps I will see them again.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the opportunity to talk a bit about my long lost feathered friends.A Wild Celtic Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09484659213999993125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-41705453827224964072009-01-23T14:47:00.000-05:002009-01-23T14:47:00.000-05:00ahh, buzzards..the garbage disposals of the world....ahh, buzzards..the garbage disposals of the world.yellowdoggrannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14906624317290990109noreply@blogger.com