I found some turkey vultures sunning themselves by the road after a rain storm near the carcass of a deer. The way they were looking at me, I felt like a fresh cupcake topped with buttercream frosting.
When you look at a cupcake, you’ve got to smile.
Quotation from Anne Byrn
And sometimes things to bed I take,
As prudent sailors have to do;
Perhaps a slice of wedding-cake,
Perhaps a toy or two.
Quotation from Robert Louis Stevensen, My Bed is a Boat
i don’t think we have vultures in canada.. maybe they don’t like the weather.. because certainly there must be dead deer, or maybe there’s more hunters, my dad used to hunt, i never forgave him for that, he said it was good to keep the population under control, sounds like a deer scrooge doesn’t it? ‘if they have to die then let them do it and decrease the surplus population’ ‘bah humbug’…
yes!! it wasn’t that long ago that my husband and i bought two old bugs for about $1200 each, both good cars… but now you just don’t see them, very sad isn’t it? no more playing punch buggy, well that’s a good thing! ha
Love that first shot, nice angle!
Vultures would scare the shit outta me
beautiful collection of pictures. i bet you had fun!!
In my country there is a saying that goes something like this: “Vultures don’t enjoy what they do, they just enjoy the lack of competition”
my grandmother told my this when i was 8 after i asked what is a cleptomaniac.
I thought it was so they could warm up their wings to get the circulation going after a cold night, while they are waiting for thermals to build, so they could get lift. Excellent photo story
Nice punchline:)
Sometimes turkey vultures go to auctions…
I like how your amazing images took over today, over the comic, though I do like that, as well, but I like that they share the space.
man this is so amazing, love the photos, Cupcake lol
Well hunters do indeed perform a function. If there was no one hunting deer then their population would get way out of control and then they would eat all the available food and start starving to death. Which would definitely kill more than the hunters ever would. We did too good a job of killing off all the natural predators in this country so now we have to take over the job.
Great images. The one with their wings open like that reminds me of the Dark Crystal.
The donkey is trembling!
These turkey vultures seems to be as some musicians at their place waiting for the meal!
But the donkey can try to dave the desert!
so sad…
I’ve heard your turkey vultures feed only on dead meat, grasses, insects, and pumpkins when in season whereas their black vulture cousins with whom they fraternize and roost together do feed on live animals. That only goes only to prove although birds of a feather will flock together they can still have different tastes. Down under raptors prefer hard boiled eggs and use rocks as a tool to break them open by hurling the rock held in their beak when all else fails. Best wishes
Come to think of it, I’m not sure they are into cupcakes. Mmmm… maybe they saw you as a photographer and wanted to have their picture taken? The second one looks super cool!
“All right, fellas!!! Quickly finish with the main course. And then lets get started the dessert. This kind a cupcake doesn’t come handy easily everyday.”
the middle picture is totally surreal. I’d even say, baudelairesque. If only it was in b&w to give it more darkness.
Amazing Images! I think my favorite is the one with all their wings open! Very cool! Thanks for sharing.
I find vultures to be very fascinating creatures. BTW thanks so much for visiting my blog and commenting.
I particularly like the top image. Power lines are so photogenic.
yellow lights and yellow teeth, my dentist fixed my yellow teeth by covering them in celophane so kids couldn’t climb on them
mmmmm….cupcakes.
We have a store here called “Cupcakes”…sells nothing but, made with butter icing. They are so amazing.
I see we have a similar theme today with ‘wings’.
I especially like the first 2 shots…sensational.
and then the children jump out and say BOO and crack you in the lip with their round little foreheads, blood everywhere, emergency room, stitches, while the kids in your teeth point and laugh
Tibetan Buddhists practice sky burials. It sounds a bit gruesome when you first hear about it since the practice is to take the body to a special high place and dissect it according to a sacred procedure to feed the vultures. Sky burial and cremation represent the impermanence of life and in that context make a great deal of sense.
cracking images, look like Bambi’s going to get it
i used to be addicted to chap stick, well i heard on oprah that your lips stop producing their own moisture if you use chapstick for too long, well…. twenty long years and my life is still, tryna get up that great big hill of hope, that my lips will stop cracking and bleeding… getting them tattoo’d doesn’t help… i believe in fake lips and drink sugar water all day long, ice tea flavor, not weiner flavor….
oh oh!!! nooooooo!!! nasal inhalers are worse than chapstick, they will backfire on you and you’ll end up with an even more stuffed up nose, that children can’t EVEN climb into
I always wonder what these vultures are going to eat along the road! I see you found it! I like the image with all the wings in the air – great shots and thoughts! Have a fantastic weekend.
I’m really happy to hear that sunlight kills bacteria cause I spend a lotta time in the sun. I love vultures and enjoyed watching their elegant flight above the beaches of Brazil. There, they are known as “urubu” one of those habit forming words that I can’t stop saying once I start.
But…you ARE a fresh cupcake topped with buttercream frosting, Seraphine!!!
“Quand le vautour meurt, la poule ne pleure pas!”
I think in English it is: ” When the vulture dies, the hen does not cry! “
To clarify the situation, Sera, in your second photograph they are actually ‘flashing’ to passers by. This is a particularly rude species of Turkey vulture known as Vulgar Vulturious.
Cracking shots and that second shot in particular is a gem.
Great pictures…This vision is chilling! …
Are not we always “the fresh supcake topped with buttercream frosting of” someone?
Incredible shots, each one its own pole, what a choregraphy. Animals we have disgust for by instinct but they have their place on the planet – what do they think of some of our most disgusting behaviors ? Next time i meet a vultur (with feathers, i mean
i’ll ask !
great serie …
I agree that the second one in B&W will be so dramatic …
Bien à toi !
The picture of the animal’s leg made me a bit sick and really sad.
Like how you captured their wingspan, fascinating creatures, someone has to do the dirty work. Great shots!
oh i KNOW, often non-Christians that convince me to talk about God by being confrontational, call me closed minded after about 10 minutes, i say durned right!!! an open mind for what? to let whatever crap that comes along in there? i proudly have a closed mind, grasping tightly the truths that i hold to be NOT self evident, but only come from above… it’s ok if you don’t make new brilliant comics ALL THE TIME hehe
Cool! I wonder why I like to spread out in the sun?
Have a nice week end Seraphine!
Turkey vultures clean the road !.. they are help for the planet !
Awesome experience.
Vultures, dead deer, cupcakes and a pretty amazing photograph. This, Seraphine, is why the world embraces you. Bizarre, yet nicely tied together. Only you. Cheers.