First Flight Soon

Posted on June 20, 2013 by MaryALivingston

The young turkey vultures are fledglings now. Each day they hop up on branches, stretch and flap their wings. I promise some more videos, they have been so active I have a lot of video feed to sift through.

A few shots to hold you over…

The fledglings are about 9.5 weeks now. They stretch their wings often. The downy white is almost all gone. At this age, they have more black in their dark brown than their parents.

The turkey vulture siblings spend a large part of their day out of the nest cavity.

Wood Duck Invades Vuture Nest – Ghost Babies Fight Back

Posted on May 24, 2013 by MaryALivingston

The turkey vulture nest gets visitors from time to time. An occasional nuthatch or raccoon as seen in Night Visitor pass through. This week, wood ducks have been landing on and peering into the cavity of the turkey vulture nest.

Much to my surprise, a brave hen decided to leap inside.
We lowered a GoPro to get a duck’s eye view of the chicks. My friend Rhythm calls them “ghost babies.”

Having all of this in my backyard is pure bliss. 🙂

– In the spring wood ducks flock to the pond. They often feed in the grasses and on sprouting acorns under the oaks. © Maryᴀ Livingston

– A beautiful view from my office desk of a wood duck drake. © MaryA Livingston

– A wood duck hen on the pond in my backyard.© Maryᴀ Livingston

Turkey Vulture Chicks at 5 weeks – © Maryᴀ Livingston

Vulture Chick & Wood Duck – birds of a different feather

Posted on May 23, 2013 by MaryALivingston

– Vulture Chick and Wood Duck Hen in pencil.

“Z” at Zeebra Designs put out a call for Timeout for Art. Here is a pencil sketch inspired by a recent visitor to the turkey vulture nest.
What happens when a wood duck invades a vulture nest?
Video tomorrow.

Bigger on the Inside

Posted on April 13, 2013 by MaryALivingston

Brooding turkey vulture in a 14 ft. hollow of a blue oak tree. This image is a composite of 3 photos.

Peering down the vulture hole, I am amazed at the ability of the turkey vultures to climb in and out of this nesting location. It is fourteen feet from the opening to the base.

It is unclear whether this brooding vulture is on eggs or new chicks. It should be nearing time for the eggs to hatch, if my calculations are correct. On March 5^th & 6^th, I recorded the pair breeding at the entrance and the female retreating inside the nesting cavity. I am making an educated guess that this was around the time of laying their eggs. Most sources site 34-40 days incubation. Sources are vague on the day count, but in all fairness who counts days for vultures hatching? The UStream Missouri turkey vultures incubated for 34 days in 2012.

Both parents incubate the eggs and share in raising the chicks. I do not know when incubation began for this pair.

So for now, all I know is…

Tukey-vultures Are Residing Down Inside Shelter.
TARDIS…bigger in the inside. 😉

Shasta Wildlife Rescue – Run for the Wild

Posted on April 5, 2013 by MaryALivingston

On Saturday, April 6, I will be at Shasta Wildlife Rescue for their 13th annual SWRR Run for The Wild held together with the Open House and Baby Shower. At Anderson River Park, in Anderson, CA.

Be sure to see “Sunny” the turkey vulture, their very own Ugly Bird ambassador. Sunny was kind enough to show me how a turkey vulture moved and held itself.

So…if you are in the area, stop on by and say “Hi.”

No Place for UGLY Birds

UGLY Birds Gather

Video

Turkey vultures check out a dead rat.

“UGLY Birds” to Appear at Annual Return of the Buzzards!

Posted on March 4, 2013 by MaryALivingston

Exciting news, especially for those of you in Hinckley, OH. My new picture book, No Place for UGLY Birds, will be available at EarthWords Nature Shop in time for the Annual Return of the Buzzards!

No Place for UGLY Birds

Not in my backyard
Scotty lives in a quiet little valley where not much exciting goes on. That is, until the day his neighbors decide the turkey vultures are too ugly.
No Place for Ugly Birds – An amusing story with unintended consequences.
Story – 763 words
Turkey Vulture Critter Chit-Chatter™ – 278 words

written and illustrated by Mary A Livingston
32 pages, 763 words

Red Tail Publishing
Hard Cover ISBN13: 978-0-9847756-7-5
Soft Cover ISBN13: 978-0-9847756-8-2

Night Visitor

Posted on February 27, 2013 by MaryALivingston

Early in the night, just after dark, a raccoon visited the turkey vulture nest tree. It climbed up the backside and over the top. Paused a moment at the cavity opening, then was on its way. I worried when I first saw the intruder, a nest raider for sure. I wondered if the vulture eggs would be safe down inside the tree cavity? Will this night bandit be back?
Related Posts
Turkey Vulture Rendezvous
Spying on the Vulture Nest
Vulture Turf Wars
They’re Back
Wings of Autumn

Vulture Turf Wars

Posted on February 21, 2013 by MaryALivingston

In my last post, I noted that I was trying to capture a breeding shot of the turkey vultures. As I was cleaning my painting table, I noticed a vulture perched on the gate at the lower field, two on posts, and one on the ground. Surely, there must be a nesting pair amongst this crew.

I grabbed the camera and sneaked out the office door and around the side of the house. The one on the gate spread its wings, as vultures often do when sunning themselves. The posture was a bit more intimidating than the usual bask in the sunshine. Then the one on the ground spread out its wings.

They squared off.

Then the one on the gate literally flung itself onto the intruder. The fight was on. The fight initiator chased the other through the trees, across the big pond, and up the hill. Then the victorious vulture flew into the nest tree and fluffed its feathers in a display claiming the nest site.

Interesting goings-on in my backyard.

Vultures gather by at the lower gate. Two offer a display.

The vulture on the gate pounces on the other.

The fight ensues.

Th vulture delivers a parting shot (bite).

The intruder is chased away.

After successfully chasing the intruder away, the vulture perches in the nest tree.

Animal Attraction

Posted on December 11, 2012 by MaryALivingston

A buck in rut in the lower field.

As I sat down to paint this morning, movement in the field on the other side of the pond caught my attention. The distance, about 250 yards, from the window was a bit far for a nice shot. Tim and I quietly slipped around the south side of the dam, then belly crawled to get within 100 yards. This nice black-tailed buck in rut was watching a doe by one of the lower ponds.

The doe he was fixated on. She is pretty, can you blame him?

The buck stares longingly at the doe. He did not notice us at all.

We must have been a sight, laying on our bellies, in the rain soaked grass, stalking the deer for a photo. The buck did not notice us at all. He was captivated by her scent. She was nervous, people crawling through the grass and taking aim her way was more than she could stand. She bolted up the hill and over the ridge with him in hot pursuit.

Gotta sneak bliss when you can, even when people are watching.