Turkey Vultures fish? Who knew?
Aug 25, 2023 22:07:16 #
Recently I’ve enjoyed seeing a lot of photos catching Herons, Egrets etc. with a fish in mid-air being flipped into swallowing position. I’ve been trying to replicate those shots, but the local water birds have not been cooperating. However, I now present a photo of a TURKEY VULTURE doing exactly that! Who knew, TV’s occasionally go fishing!
In this case the river was drying into small, isolated pools which trapped many fish. The Snowy Egrets - and this one Turkey Vulture - had a feeding frenzy. Here’s a pic of 3 Snowy Egrets each with fish in beak.
And I got one mid-gulp. Not *quite* the repositioning flip, but I’ll take it.
Santa Ana River, Orange, California, USA
Olympus E-M5 II, M.Zuiko Digital ED 75-300mm F4.8-6.7 II
In this case the river was drying into small, isolated pools which trapped many fish. The Snowy Egrets - and this one Turkey Vulture - had a feeding frenzy. Here’s a pic of 3 Snowy Egrets each with fish in beak.
And I got one mid-gulp. Not *quite* the repositioning flip, but I’ll take it.
Santa Ana River, Orange, California, USA
Olympus E-M5 II, M.Zuiko Digital ED 75-300mm F4.8-6.7 II
Aug 25, 2023 22:23:21 #
Aug 26, 2023 03:36:01 #
Aug 26, 2023 07:52:20 #
Aug 26, 2023 07:57:50 #
I guess if they can't find anything dead to eat, they resort to eating live food.
Aug 26, 2023 09:45:26 #
Aug 26, 2023 11:27:42 #
Good captures.Aug 26, 2023 12:40:56 #
rsworden wrote:
Recently I’ve enjoyed seeing a lot of photos catch... (show quote)
Well caught! And the Snowy’s got lucky too, RSWarden!
Aug 26, 2023 13:41:46 #
Aug 26, 2023 13:59:16 #
After a second look I think the Vulture is eating dead fish on the bank and in the water
Aug 26, 2023 16:44:42 #
rsworden wrote:
Recently I’ve enjoyed seeing a lot of photos catch... (show quote)
Superb shots and so cool 🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊 Read online that turkey vultures are slowly turning into omnivores due to the scarcity of kills in many of their normal areas
Aug 28, 2023 01:40:43 #
Curmudgeon wrote:
After a second look I think the Vulture is eating dead fish on the bank and in the water
Nope, I watched for 20 minutes or so. It was plucking fish from the water, and the water surface sometimes “boiled” with agitated fish trying to escape.
Aug 29, 2023 17:09:42 #
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.