Buzzard food

The weather front that passed last night brought the first twinge of the seasons changing.  I'm amazed at the many signs of autumn already visible in the neighborhood.  A few trees have pinches of color, the sumac berries are beginning to bud, and all the little turkey buzzard chicks have gotten BIG.  I rounded one of the corners of the back route I like to take when I run in the evening.  There in my path was an entire gaggle of turkey buzzards, just standing there, looking at *me*.  


I immediately was reminded of the feeling I had while watching my first Hitchcock movie when I was about seven, only the birds in The Birds seemed a whole lot smaller than these.  I slowed my pace just a bit, but kept running, not sure what else to do.  I noticed the deep red of their featherless heads, the beady twitching of their eyes, and the nasty sharp point at the end of their flesh eating beaks.  Just when I decided it might be better to turn back in search of an alternate route, they started running, and then took flight.  I remained unsettled with 30+ carrion connoisseurs flying not very far above my head, but they didn't bother me, so I kept on running.


I can honestly say I've never before been challenged to think on my feet because I was being stared down by a collection of vultures.  I was happy when I got home to read this in Wiki Answers:

"Turkey vultures are only interested in food items that do not move, run away or fight back."

Amen.


Até amanhã... 
8/25/11 - 3.2 miles | 36 mins | 5.4 mph | 355 kcal