Buzzard Buffet

Osprey Whisperer

Hello folks. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I had a pretty good Christmas eve shoot take place out in the backyard. I was taking out the garbage when all of a sudden I hear this "swooshing" sound. It was really loud. I turn around and "INCOMING". :huh It was a vulture buzzing over my head at only about 8' in the air. I've never seen a vulture so close....especially in the backyard. So I booked it inside to grab the camera. I came out to a sky full of these birds. I had never seen so many vultures in the neighborhood. There were about a dozen or so overhead.:clap

I shot vultures in flight for a good while and was a bit surprised they stuck around so long. Usually they do a flyby and they are gone. It's usually at a very high altitude also. These were the lowest flying vultures I've seen. After shooting a while I noticed there were many more vultures sitting in the neighbor's tree. They seemed to be making a circling pass out over the road and back into the tree. I walked over to investigate.:scratch HOLLY BREAKFAST BUFFET BATMAN!!!!! :huh :huh :uhoh There were several dozen of these birds on the ground. They had found some large road kill and were having a smorgasbord. This was wild. Birds in the trees....birds in the air...birds on the ground..and one on every light post in the block. It was like a Hitchcock movie or the Twilight Zone.

I was shooting the vultures on the ground and noticed a few overhead on the light posts. I shot a few pics and looked around for other birds. There were more on the rooftops and neighboring yards. There were a ton of these birds. No egrets or herons around though. This was very strange. I looked down the road a bit and HOLLY COW CAPE CRUSADER....... I couldn't believe it. My heart started racing and my jaw dropped. What was up on the light post at the end of the block? :dunno

AN EAGLE!!! :huh :clap Yes..a bald eagle Batman. I couldn't believe it. My first "in person" baldy sighting. Just my luck he was a good ways off and I was carrying my 200mm as usual. I'm sure he saw me a week ago...but I slowly walked in the other direction towards the houses. I thought I could sneak up on him under the overhangs of the houses. I made my way towards the eagle (out of site). When I got about as close as I thought I could...I jumped out from behind the houses with camera ready to blast away. DAMN!! No eagle. That sly devil knew I was "sneakin'" on him. He was gone. No where to be found. I never got the close up shots I had hoped. Just my luck....the first eagle and it's on top of a light post from a million miles away. Oh well..at least I know they are in the neighborhood. What a great backyard I've got.

Here are a few shots from Christmas eve.















Here is an uncropped shot of the eagle to give you an idea of how far away I was from the bird.



The cropped version



(see rest in gallery linked below)


WARNING: Graphic photos of the vultures eating. If you are squeamish you may not want to link to the gallery. There are also several other shots from the day (eagle/vultures).

http://www.pbase.com/blindmustangpilot/road_kill

I also had a flock of ibis in the trees. I'll post some of those shots after I PP them.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers

jwear

good shots and an eagle I am still waiting by the pizza place for one to show up but not yet loooked at your site vey good day you had

Osprey Whisperer

Thanks Jeff. I did have a VERY good couple days of shooting. I have many more shots from those days...but have not got to PP'ing them all yet. Much of the same stuff, though. Some more vultures in flight, on the ground and in the trees and rooftops. Shot a whole 1gig card of stuff that afternoon. Just wish I had some flight shots of that eagle. Grrrrrrrrrr.

You should know eagles don't like pizza with pineapple on it. Try replacing it with fish.

Thanks for looking.

MM

vandana

some great pics, also at the website !thumbU managed a steady hand with all this gory action - i assume these are handheld ..
you have an absolutely cool backyard ! do other photographers in the area know about this??!

bfjr

Congrats on a good job shooting and a nice Christmas gift it was

Rohirrim

Nice shots Mike. Congrats on your first Eagle !

If it makes you feel any better I saw one about a mile from my house last week. I wasn't able to get within 300 yrds of him before he saw me and took off. :cry

Osprey Whisperer

Thanks Vandana, Ben & Steve. I appreciate you taking a look and commenting.

Vandana, Yes all shots were hand held. Some while briskly walking also. I shot the eagle on the move for fear of losing him. I tried to get closer while shooting. Finally had to remove the camera from my eye when I approached the houses. Would have not been funny running into the houses. I don't go avertising the area...but there are many places like this in Florida. I think it's one of the best states for birding....especially this time of year.

This area is officially classified a "bird sanctuary" by the Government. There are signs up on the roads noting this. It is kind of weird living in a residential area and having so many birds around.

To date the birds seen/shot in the backyard include eagles, vultures, ibis, snowy egrets, great white egrets, white ibis, black crowned night herons, yellow crowned night herons, little blue herons, great blue herons, seagulls, terns, wood storks, anhingas, cormorants, varioius types of woodpeckers, various types of ducks, geese, too many little birds to mention and snow birds. If I travel out in a 1/4 mile radioius I can add osprey, pelicans, flamingos, parrots, macaws and various wading birds like sandpipers. It is a great place to shoot birds. I'm lucky.

Hey Ben....yes it was a nice Christmas present. The "real" ones kind of were lame. :uhoh It was just nice to spend time with family ...outside in the warm sun. :uhoh

Steve..I feel much much better knowing this. :cry :cry I know where the nest is now....so I will have to hang out there and see if I can't get my EIF shots.

MM

ginger_55

Birdman, great vulture shots. Sorry about the eagle, but I like your eagle shots, and, as you said, you know he is around!

I wondered where you had gotten to. I was not on much over Christmas, and last night it occurre to me that I had not "seen" you.

And now I find this.

Honestly, I don't feel like shooting. Terrible as that is, smile!

It seems I have shot and shot and shot, then yesterday with the bridge and getting stuck in the mud, see

http://www.dgrin.com/photo-challenges/24872-chal-new-ginger.html

look all the way to page two, I think, I did post a shot last night of my feet and shoes, a clear one. Today I just ache, and feel like...........not shooting. And I have an aim to shoot that bridge every day until the challenge, but I just woke up from a nap, and I sure haven't shot the bridge.

I used to want to spend this week at Ace Basin, a large wildlife preserve, looking for eagles, but then I did see that one, and with the little amt of time I could spend there, well, my timing would be off. No way can I bring back raptor shots like you and Harry and Ben. We might go tomorrow, but I will have to force myself, and I would not expect much out of it.

Before Christmas, I did so many GBHs, LBHs, Egrets of all kinds, well......I could do more, but I would just have to work them up and scout this thread begging for comments on stuff just like I have always posted.

I wish I had gotten a really long lens, just something to get me excited about birds: I am not. Nor am I excited about shrimp boats.

I really like your vulture shots!!! MIne are always UP there, too.

ginger

ginger_55

I love that shot third from the end! The vulture one! And the eagles are better and closer than anything I have gotten! Good feather detail.

ginger (but that vulture shot, that is special, IMO)

Harryb

Excellent buzzard shots. They are one bird I can see eating a pineapple pizza.

But





CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
:encore



On your first eagle capture.

Osprey Whisperer

Thanks Ginger and Harry....much appreciated. Sure wish I had longer glass for that eagle. Hoping to have something for the February shoot.

windoze

well i think "well done" is an understatement for sure, so how about -
those are freaking excellent!!!!!

what a series !!!


troy

Osprey Whisperer

Thanks Troy. Such comments from someone who's always posting top notch bird shots is greatly appreciated. I get lucky sometimes. :uhoh : Still wishing I had as many eagle shots as vulture shots. :cry That eagle's got my name on it...and one of these days...the light will be right...the lens will be right...and the eagle(s)will cooperate.