Turkey Vulture Entertainment

A few weeks ago, we had an impromptu dinner with a couple friends. It was that night when we were in the kitchen that we noticed the large birds circling over our house and landing in the trees across the street. It was quite the show with the birds flying in one by one to roost for the night. It was definitely kind of spooky, but so cool! Without binoculars it was hard for us to figure out exactly what kind of bird it was, but occasionally they would fly towards us and we could see a flash of red. They had to be turkey vultures!

Every night since, the vultures gracefully fly in and settle in the trees for the night. I've read that they generally eat dead animal carcasses and serve an important role in the ecosystem because by eliminating the carrion, they prevent infection and disease. That's all fine and dandy, but it makes me wonder if the trees directly across from our house have an abundance of dead animal flesh on the pine needles below, definitely not a happy thought. Of course, my imagination always gets the best of me and the vultures probably just think the pine trees provide a nice place to sleep for the night after they are done foraging.

Last night, Drew finally dug out the binoculars and our friend Lori came over just in time for the aviary show.

If you are interested in watching our nightly turkey vulture entertainment with us, stop by between 6 and 7 pm. Oh, and beer and wine is always welcome.