Bird Ramblings - Vultures

It's a busy time for Turkey Vultures. Recently we counted over 30 of them in some open fields while driving home to Dallas from Salem. They were busy picking up small rodent carcasses exposed from the field harvesting machinery. Think of the Vultures as the clean-up crew. In fact, they have been working all summer at keeping our roads clear of roadkill. Soon they will take flight and head South for the winter. I really haven't taken a good photo of Turkey Vultures this summer, so I dug into my files and found this photo taken in California some years ago. It shows the bare red skin of the head that is so helpful in digging through larger dead carcasses.