Sunday Morning Turkey Vulture

Pam had gone off to church and I was preparing to go out to take another look at the ducks at Shark River Hills, when the phone rang. It was Pam telling me that she'd seen some dark-colored raptors in the sky above Deal Test Site. I changed plans and drove over. I parked near the northeast corner because that's where the Turkey Vultures hang out. I reckoned that if Pam's birds had moved on (as seemed likely), I'd at least have a chance to get some good shots of Turkey Vultures.

And indeed, a turkey vulture came flying over, quite low. It flew past me and into the sun but then turned around and came back even lower. It obviously planned to land quite close to where I was standing.

And indeed, it did. I had been sheltering from the cold wind beside a clump of trees so to get the shot of the bird just after it landed, I had to move around the trees a bit. It was only after I took this shot that I realized there were two other birds already on the ground. The one I had followed had joined two of its cohorts.

The third bird seemed upset by my presence and made off across the grass. I photographed it and then moved back behind the clump of trees and around the other side. This brought me closest to the one that had just flown in. It decided to hop up on to a branch of a nearby tree, allowing me to get the last shot.