Turkey vultures check out a dead rat.
In 1997, the pastor of our parish asked if I would assist a fellow parishioner named Walt to purchase a computer and learn how to use it.
When I greeted Walt, I recognized him immediately. The previous summer I took a portrait of him with his wife, Ruth. Ruth had Alzheimer’s and wasn’t too keen on me positioning her for the photo. Walt began speaking to her softly, “Now, Ruthy, it’s okay, she is going to take our picture.” She caught his eyes and was immediately calmed. Her eyes danced in the photo. It was obvious to me, there was something special about this man.
With this we began our journey.
Walt had a dairy ranch, much of his computer lessons involved teaching him to enter data on his heard, run reports, etc. Walt is bright and eager to learn new things, so he caught on quickly.
A 30 minute session took 4 hours.
The tech stuff was accomplished in the first and last 15 minutes. The rest, well Walt told stories and if he noticed me looking at the clock, he said, “Just one more thing.”
And so our routine was born. I started planning for the longer visits. In time, he needed no assistance with his computer, but we went through the motions anyway.
We all need story tellers and Walt is a master.
Little by little I learned of his youth. I learned of his days in WWII. Which roses in the yard he liked the most and about stray voltage in the barn.
Sgt. Matthews
Photo from the Walter Matthews collection
I laughed and cried when he shared stories of his daughter, Pat. She was the light of his life and brought much joy to Walt and Ruth. Pat died at 37 from primary biliary cirrhosis.
Not long after that Ruth was stricken with Alzheimer’s. For many years, Walt cared for her every need. The kind of care not born of obligation, but born of love.
A few years after Ruth passed, Walt was blessed with another chance for a love in his life and Bee came into his heart and ours.
Bee and Walt, just after Valentine’s Day 2008. Photo by MaryALivingston
Every once in a while, we still sneak a morning together and a cup of tea. We make no pretenses of caring for the computer, the time is ours to enjoy the stories and share a little bliss.
If you ever have the occasion, ask Walt to brew a cup of tea and tell you a story.
Your life will be richer for it.
I love you Walt,
Happy Birthday
The two of us. Photo by Bernice Bennett (Bee)
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
A pair of turkey vultures at the threshold of the nest cavity.
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?
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I can’t help but notice, a few followers have dropped off since I started the turkey vulture posts. There is more to come, and on Friday, I will reveal why I have been stalking turkey vultures.
In the meantime, I must get a better system for surveillance. I mounted an old video surveillance camera to view the turkey vulture nest tree in our backyard.
The video is bad at its best. As a backup, I mounted a wildlife cam on a ladder near the nest cavity. Today, the nesting pair gave quite the display. The footage is highly pixelated with poor image quality in general.
I headed out to retrieve the SD card out of the wildlife cam, but it was knocked askew sometime before the mating.
Any suggestions are welcome for a product that will allow us all to view this pair. They should start incubating eggs soon. Typically, their chicks start to fledge mid June around our area.
I know, I know, somewhere in here is bliss, but who can find it amongst the low res pixilation?
I thought about not posting this video, but figured some of you reading this post might have some suggestions.
Here is the video, great content, lousy quality.
I have been sharing some views of my backyard, here is a view of my front yard. Tim captured some nice shots of last night’s moon rising.
I am uncertain as to how well this will work. Today Tim and I set up a camera to watch the turkey vulture nest. Since they have already returned to the nest, we set it up at a distance. Hopefully, we can catch them coming and going at the entrance.
The nesting spot is located deep in the cavity of a hollow tree. We measured last summer and it is 14 feet down. We have no way to set up a camera inside of the nest cavity short of drilling a hole in the tree trunk.
After some time, I may mount a camera on a pole and raise it to the top of the nest to attempt to sneak a few shots of the inside; but for now, we will keep it at a non-disturbing distance. So far, no images to share from the nest cam itself…I will keep you posted.
Tim and I head out to set up the vulture cam.
We figured we were close enough. Photos by my niece, Paige Donahue.
Just a few tweaks to the camera angle. Photos by my niece, Paige Donahue
A few final tweaks to secure the camera. Thanks Paige for taking the pictures!
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.
The pair of vultures in the nest tree. Turkey vultures live in our area year round. In February, a pair claims the nest. I don’t know if it is the same pair each year.
I went out into our backyard to get some reference photos of lighting on the trees. Just as I raised the camera to my eye, I hear an odd squeaky grunt from the west. I did not recognize the creature making such a sound. It did not sound like the call of a bird, nor did it sound like a critter on the ground. Quickly, I lowered the camera for a look.
I saw two turkey vultures tangled in a mating embrace in the nest tree just south of the big pond. I switched the camera to video to catch the moment and only managed to get the afterglow fluff of feathers.
Turkey vultures are very secretive. We lived here for almost ten years before we realized they were nesting in the hollow of an oak tree just south of the big pond. Even more years before we saw the nesting pairs enter and leave the nest.
The hollow of the tree extends fourteen feet to ground level. By the time the chicks can climb out, they are old enough to fly.
The next day, I watched from the workroom for the vultures to return to the tree. I hoped to catch them. Then they came, one after the other into the tree. I turned off the equipment and rushed out. I don’t usually take a rushed break in the middle of the work day, but I was on a mission.
I slipped around a tree to the southeast of their location and waited. The vultures, the aware bird that they are, already spotted me and were staring in my direction. Then they flew overhead and if they had voice boxes, I am sure they would have sounded a laugh.
So it begins, the nesting of the turkey vultures in our backyard. I will keep you posted.
As for me, I returned to work a little more productive after sneaking a little bliss.
Hollow oak tree. The vultures nest in the cavity every year. The entrance is 14 feet off the ground. to give you size perspective, I am 5’9″ tall.
A shot into the cavity of the tree where the turkey vultures raise their young.
Sneaking Bliss 