Vulturelet progress report: They're getting prettier

Photo: Bob Lane 

Good thing this blog doesn't have an olfactory app - the smells emitting from your screen would NOT be sweet-scented!

Back on July 11th, I posted about some young Turkey Vultures that Bob Lane had visited in their Columbiana County barn loft nest. That post is HERE. Well, Bob and his far better half, Denise, stopped back to check on progress yesterday. As you can see from Bob's artful photos, featuring one of the young 'uns hurling in disgust at this invasion, the little fellows are coming along just fine.

Photo: Bob Lane

Bob's sure got the hang of capturing these things in mid upchuck; good work, Bob. I suggest you submit these shots to Birds & Blooms magazine for their photo gallery, and I'm quite serious about that. B & B strikes me as a bit too vanilla; some young vultures vomiting up god only knows what is sure to light a fire under their gentle readership.

Following we have, in Bob's own words, his description of Denise's and his recent visit to see these bald-headed beauts:

"Denise and I stopped to check on the Columbiana County kids about 7 pm last night. At 70 days old (10 weeks), they are still in their grain bin nursery. They welcomed us with a hissing serenade, and as you can see from the photos, they became quite excited, the smell was unforgettable and overwhelming. The two cute siblings should leave the grain bin this week sometime, wander around in the barn for another week or so, then fledge to the outside world. If people realized how long it takes for baby Turkey Vultures to leave their nest area, I think they might appreciate them more!"

Bravo, Denise and Bob, and thanks for venturing into that grain bin to bring back these shots of the little cuties!