middleblog-a suburban babble brook book

Turkey Buzzards and Bright Blue Moths

  Last year, I thought the great birds wheeling overhead were some form of hawk, or osprey.  This year I have concluded differently.
    The other day, the dog barked at a cracking rustling emanating from the forest.  It being a cheerful, sunny day, I poked off to the forest's edge to try to see the sound.  The racket increased, and suddenly I spied two of my great, dark birds flying through the forest, amongst the branches.  They flew very close overhead, and I saw their tiny, bright red faces.  My mind boggled briefly-could turkeys fly like this, foolish and ungainly, but achieving a haunting grace when gliding on the thermal from the clearing?  Were they vultures?  Or were they examples of the buzzards that Buzzard's Bay was named for?
    Last night, a flock of these birds decided to roost in the trees on our back lawn.  They land on branches like fledglings, scrabbling, wings outstretched.  Two were on the ground, snacking on something. (Let me here take a moment to point out that our back lawn isn't of your Better Homes and Gardens ilk.) 
    As I approached, they first stretched out their wings, then flew clumsily off. 
    I looked it up last night, and they are turkey vultures. This makes sound sense both because we have an abundance of wild turkey, and because they look like turkeys.  I was relieved to realize they represent no threat to my smaller domestic animals, but also slightly repelled.  The poor vulture has gotten a bad rap socially despite its ecologically vital and biologically brilliant lifestyle.  But, now that I think on it, I guess anything that saves me having to dispose of dead animals is a friend to me.

  On a brighter note, there has a been a single moth with wings like slices of sky who has been fluttering around the back door.