I did not follow my own advice a month ago and went to the zoo in the late afternoon to avoid the morning cold. Many animals were taking their afternoon rest. However, it was getting time to feed the eagles which means the Turkey vultures were paying a visit to the zoo to get a share of it. I had my camera for over a year but had never really tried using what Olympus calls the Continuous Auto-focusing + Tracking mode on large soaring birds. So while they are not the charismatic soaring raptors, Turkey vultures are terrific at soaring with the wingspan of a Bald eagle and 25-30 percent of the weight they can soar for hours. It's scientific name is Cathartes aura and is in the same family as the California condor. Excellent time to try the Tracking mode and start practicing before seeking out raptors. This is the first attempt and I've identified some changes for next time which was my goal, but still rather satisfied with the result.

I did not follow my own advice a month ago and went to the zoo in the late afternoon to avoid the morning cold. Many animals were taking their afternoon rest. However, it was getting time to feed the eagles which means the Turkey vultures were paying a visit to the zoo to get a share of it. I had my camera for over a year but had never really tried using what Olympus calls the Continuous Auto-focusing + Tracking mode on large soaring birds. So while they are not the charismatic soaring raptors, Turkey vultures are terrific at soaring with the wingspan of a Bald eagle and 25-30 percent of the weight they can soar for hours. It's scientific name is Cathartes aura and is in the same family as the California condor. Excellent time to try the Tracking mode and start practicing before seeking out raptors. This is the first attempt and I've identified some changes for next time which was my goal, but still rather satisfied with the result.