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Not everyone's cup of tea, but I took some cool Vulture pictures.

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bluesbassman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:01 AM
Original message
Not everyone's cup of tea, but I took some cool Vulture pictures.
Some people are put off by these birds, but they're an important part of the food chain and uniquely adapted for what they do. I also find their flight to be quite beautiful and calming. Anyway, I was out for a hike near the ridge yesterday morning and ran into a venue flying, drying their wings and just hanging out. The bird in the bottom pics was pretty low in a tree and let me get about 15 feet away.











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emilyg Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:05 AM
Response to Original message
1. Beautiful - thanks
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bluesbassman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:23 AM
Response to Reply #1
4. You're welcome, and thank you.
:)
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MiddleFingerMom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:17 AM
Response to Original message
2. Excellent and IMPRESSIVE pictures. WOW!!! Thanks.
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bluesbassman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:25 AM
Response to Reply #2
5. LOL, sometimes it just works out that way.
:rofl:

Thanks for the kudos.
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La Lioness Priyanka Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:20 AM
Response to Original message
3. gorgeous
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bluesbassman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:26 AM
Response to Reply #3
6. Thanks Priya.
:hi:
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petronius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:30 AM
Response to Original message
7. Nice work! (#1 and #4 in particular)
Vultures really are fun to watch fly and hop around - I especially enjoy seeing them on our local sand dunes, where they seem interestingly out of place...
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bluesbassman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:36 AM
Response to Reply #7
8. Thanks. Yeah, they're definitely more at home in the sky.
Never seen one on a sand dune, but I imagine they walk even goofier than the do on solid ground.
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CaliforniaPeggy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:40 AM
Response to Original message
9. Beautiful, my dear bluesbassman!
But I must say that the last pic is a bit scary! He looks like he's sizing you up as a possible meal! :scared:

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bluesbassman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:50 AM
Response to Reply #9
11. Aw, not too worried. I'm tough and stringy, and probably taste like chicken.
:rofl:

However, it was a little unsettling being that close to them. I've been around other large raptors too, and they definitely stare you down.

Glad you liked the pics. :)
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Dystopian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:46 AM
Response to Original message
10. !
Thank you for sharing...:hug:
The photos are beautiful ... the vultures are beautiful ...
exquisite ....


peace~
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bluesbassman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:53 AM
Response to Reply #10
13. Thanks D!
They really are, especially in flight. Clad you enjoyed the shots. :hug:
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fishwax Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:52 AM
Response to Original message
12. very cool!
:kick:
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bluesbassman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:54 AM
Response to Reply #12
14. Thank you.
Edited on Sun Nov-13-11 12:59 AM by bluesbassman
:hi:
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bigwillq Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 01:19 AM
Response to Original message
15. Great shots!
:bounce:
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bluesbassman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 02:03 AM
Response to Reply #15
17. Thank you Will.
:)
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Lucinda Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 01:46 AM
Response to Original message
16. Wonderful shots!
What camera do you use?
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bluesbassman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 02:06 AM
Response to Reply #16
18. Thanks Lucinda!
I have a Nikon D40X, and the lens I used for these shots is a Nikkor 70-200 1:2.8 zoom. Glad you liked them. :hi:
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Lucinda Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 11:46 AM
Response to Reply #18
24. I have the Nikon Coolpix 4500 - love Nikons.
Thanks for the lens info. I'll have to check and see if that one works with mine. I need a better zoom option. My camera is great for regular macro work, but i don't have great luck with birdy zoomage. :)





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Major Nikon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 03:47 AM
Response to Original message
19. Vultures are amazing creatures
Thanks for posting.
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sarge43 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 06:28 AM
Response to Original message
20. Lovely
The first resembles an ukiyo-e
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graywarrior Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 06:34 AM
Response to Original message
21. Awesome photos, especially the last one.
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sarge43 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 11:06 AM
Response to Reply #21
22. Yeah. "Mine?" n/t
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graywarrior Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 11:51 AM
Response to Reply #22
25. !
:rofl:
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sarge43 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:31 PM
Response to Reply #25
26. When hubster was working the ammo dump at D-M in AZ,
the vultures would be circling over head, catching the morning thermals. The noncoms would start on the one stripers.

"They know something."

"Yeah. We just got in a shipment of fresh meat."

"Newbies are still tender."

"Remember the time the one bird caught that kid on the fly. Cool."

"OK airman. Go rack 'n' stack 'em. Them birds are hungry."

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graywarrior Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:47 PM
Response to Reply #26
28. We used to sit in our picture windows in Venice FL and watch the turkey buzzards have
lunch on roadkill.
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OriginalGeek Donating Member (589 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-11 04:05 PM
Response to Reply #28
43. I was just in Venice two weeks ago
My Aunt and Uncle live there. My grandma lived in Nokomis for 60some years. My mom and aunt grew up there and my little brother was born there.

My company has a branch there so I love when something breaks and I get to go fix it and then get supper with my Aunt and Uncle before driving back home.


on topic:
REALLY cool pics, BBM! I have a Nikon D3000...it came with a 70-200mm lens but I need a good macro lens (well, I guess they are calling them micro lenses now). But it seems like they are all 400~500 bucks and up for anything fast. Guess I gotta save lol...
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Brigid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 08:23 PM
Response to Reply #22
39. No, that's seagulls.
Edited on Sun Nov-13-11 08:25 PM by Brigid
Though I guess it does suit buzzards just as well. :rofl:
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sarge43 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-11 05:38 AM
Response to Reply #39
40. It would suit all birds.
Whoever said "eats like a bird" never took care of any or even watched them.
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hunter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 11:25 AM
Response to Original message
23. I like to watch them. They're very playful animals...
... like kittens.

Sometimes they circle above our yard just to tease the dogs.

Our neighbor has a bunch of little dogs, the kind that spin around in insane circles when they bark. I think the vultures find this amusing.
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amyrose2712 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:32 PM
Response to Original message
27. Wow! Great shots!nt
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Withywindle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 12:54 PM
Response to Original message
29. A vulture is checking in at the airport...
"Would you like to check your bag?"

"No thanks, it's carrion."




I have always loved vultures beyond all reason. Crows and ravens too. I have a thing for large black birds. My spirit animal, if you believe in such things. Turkey vultures like these were extremely common where I grew up (SW VA mountains). As a child, sometimes I used to lie in a field and pretend to be dead in the hope that one would come down and I could catch it and keep it as a pet. :blush:


Gorgeous photos.
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deucemagnet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 01:11 PM
Response to Original message
30. Very nice pictures!
We have a lot of turkey vultures around here. A grad student I once worked with used to do research on turkey vultures. They would put bait out in a field and would capture them with some sort of a net-gun. As a part of the vultures' fight-or-flight response, they would immediately vomit once the net was fired. Vultures aren't particularly concerned about their meals passing the sniff test to begin with, and, according to this student, vulture vomit somehow makes the odor even more offensive. Needless to say, she was happy to be done with the vulture research!
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Withywindle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 01:18 PM
Response to Reply #30
31. Gross! (she said with a big grin on her face)
Trivia fact: California condors (which are members of the vulture family) will defecate all over their legs to keep them cool. They also do the barf-when-they're-scared thing.

One of nature's most magnificent creatures--from a distance.
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deucemagnet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 01:28 PM
Response to Reply #31
32. Yuk!
You have successfully one-upped my gross bird story. Brava, ma'am! Brava! :applause:


;)
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Demoiselle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 01:50 PM
Response to Original message
33. A "venue" of vultures!
I've heard of an exaltation of larks and a murder of crows but venue of vultures is new to me.
Beautiful pictures, wonderful birds. Their wings, among other things, are spectacular...Thanks.
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sarge43 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 02:16 PM
Response to Reply #33
34. Also a wake of vultures. n/t
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Demoiselle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 07:29 PM
Response to Reply #34
35. That's perfect for obvious reasons.
"Venture" of vultures sounds a bit like leveraged buy-out artists, a la Mittens Romney and his company.
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Tuesday Afternoon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 07:49 PM
Response to Original message
36. great shots
really love the first one.
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Mendocino Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 07:57 PM
Response to Original message
37. A few weeks back
I saw about 60 vultures perching on a church roof, with a very large dark forbidding cross thrust up amongst them. Looked like something from a horror film. Very creepy.
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Brigid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-13-11 08:10 PM
Response to Original message
38. We call them buzzards here in this part of the MW.
Edited on Sun Nov-13-11 08:12 PM by Brigid
For some reason, it seems I see more of them these days, even here in Indy. :scared:

Cool pics, BTW. :)
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WillParkinson Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-11 08:28 AM
Response to Original message
41. They're beautiful...and a bit scary
Awesome pictures. Thanks very much for sharing them.
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LibertyLover Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-11 03:22 PM
Response to Original message
42. I love vultures - we have a number in the neighborhood
I live in. We also have ospreys. Whenever my greyhound bitch is out in the backyard and an osprey flies over, she jumps up at it and barks. Whenever a vulture flies over, she like, yeah, ok, whatever, have a nice day. It is very funny. One of my favorite Egyptian goddesses is Nekhebet, the vulture goddess.
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Taverner Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-11 04:42 PM
Response to Original message
44. LOVE this pic!
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Skittles Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-14-11 04:43 PM
Response to Original message
45. best vulture pics I have ever seen
yes INDEED
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Withywindle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-15-11 12:27 AM
Response to Original message
46. kick
because I just love these pictures so much. Beautifully done, and it's awesome that you could get that close!
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bluesbassman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-15-11 01:39 AM
Response to Reply #46
47. Thank you very much Withywindle! Here's a couple more just for you.
I'm overwelmed by the responses to these shots. It was a unique oportunity to be able to get that close to them as they were starting their day. I'm glad you and all the other Loungers have enjoyed these photos. :)



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Quantess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-15-11 02:39 PM
Response to Original message
48. I remember seeing 3 vultures on the railroad tracks in a suburb as I drove by.
I thought they were chickens that got loose, so I stopped the car, got out and called "here chicken!" Until I got close enough to see they weren't chickens. They just stared at me. :D
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Luciferous Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-15-11 02:40 PM
Response to Original message
49. Very nice- the first one is my favorite.
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geardaddy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-15-11 02:43 PM
Response to Original message
50. Cool! Excellent photos!
Are those Turkey Vultures?
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bluesbassman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-15-11 09:50 PM
Response to Reply #50
51. Thnks geardaddy. Yes, those are Turkey Vultures. n/t
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