To go with "UnBird" here's "NotCuteBird" (Warning! Vulture doing what vultures do)

[qnr]

Turtle Nummies

A Turkey Vulture, taken through a spotting scope at about 40x zoom.

Just for info, I did advise the Texas Turtle hotline.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. bz

that is all

[qnr]

2. tu qsl ar

[Celebration]

3. we sure

live in a violent world. Imagine, they have to be violent to live. Somehow seeing a bird eat a fish doesn't seem as violent, but really it is. Those turkey vultures really look kind of prehistoric.

This actually is a really great picture.

I'm pretty impressed with a 40x scope!

Now, if you entered this in a contest, we would have to warn on this one. There may even be some people here who don't want to see it, so thanks for the warning.

[qnr]

4. We do. Just before I came upon this scene (there were 3 vultures) I had been watching

an Osprey eating a fish in a messy manner, and snowy egret swallowing some fish whole.

Thanks - I'm still learning how to use the scope with the camera.

Yeah, the scope is a lot of fun. I could never afford one of the expensive Swarovski, Nikon, etc. scopes - those high-end ones can cost thousands. I bought mine (a Celestron 52200 60mm Pro Zoom Spotting Scope) used for 50 dollars. One thing I like about it is how the zoom and focus rings are integrated into the body, rather than the eyepiece, so they're very easy to adjust with the camera attached with a t-mount and adapter.

You're welcome - a warning was a pretty obvious requirement.

[JeffR]

5. Yikes!

Good shot!

[qnr]

6. Thanks. Funny thing is I've spent hundreds of hours and thousands of miles

working to protect the (mostly Kemp's Ridley) sea turtles - interesting to see one in a situation like this.

[JeffR]

7. I was wondering about how frequent this might be.

Good for you for your efforts for the turtles. After 200 million + years on earth, they deserve better than they've got.