Nature came to entertain us yesterday morning. We saw a large bird land in the woods behind our house, so naturally we tried to see what was going on. Who came to visit us?
It was a turkey vulture (Cathartes aura)! At first it just sat on the ground. Maybe it was resting. After a while it moved a little bit, and started picking stuff up off the ground. Turkey vultures eat dead things. What was it eating?
Apparently, someone threw a large piece of meat (it looked like pork to me) out there. The vulture had quite a feast! It stayed for about 30 minutes. We watched as it picked up pieces of meat, carried it to a spot a little deeper in the trees, had a few bites, and then went back out to get another piece and repeat the process. It flew away before all the meat was gone. And then when the coast was clear, a large crow flew in, grabbed a small piece of meat, and flew away again.
Here is a series of shots that I took from the window.
You never know what you’re going to see in your own backyard!