That's not a duck!

: Amused and satiated

Dwana came over so we could divvy up our candle party credit and then she treated me to lunch at Atlanta Bread Company. (The tomato/fennel/dill soup is very yummy.) Traffic had been backed up on the way to Hamburg Pavilion (or as I call it, the world's largest strip mall), so we took a back way to my house that went by a lovely pond where people go walking and feed the ducks.

A large graceful shape flew down.
'What was that?' I said. 'That's not a duck.'
'It looked like a turkey,' said Dwana.
'Maybe it was a turkey vulture,' said I.

And because we are curious sorts, we turned around and drove back.

'They are turkey vultures!' I cried. 'Neat.'
'Oom...yeah.' said Dwana. She was not so thrilled. Like most people, they creeped her out with their bald, red heads. 'Don't they eat human remains?'

'They eat any remains,' I said, a trifle too cheerfully. 'They were held sacred in ancient Aegypt, you know, partly because of their association with death.'

Dwana said something about them being an unpleasant surprise for someone coming to feed the ducks. I wondered if there was a dead animal that had drawn them, although from what I could see they were just basking near the water. Then I said something about being good citizens, we should probably check to make there isn't a dead body.

Dwana kept driving. I don't think she really wanted to get any closer to them. :) Since I wasn't sure how aggressive they might be, that was fine with me.

Have I mentioned that every time we go anywhere, it's an adventure? :D

I know that vultures are native to this area, and I've probably seen them in flight fairly often, but I haven's seen any resting up close, but I haven't seen any since I was in California (and those were perched in trees). I know I sound like some kind of nature geek, but...neato! Want to know more about turkey vultures? Check out the Turkey Vulture Society or eNature.

I also miss the ravens and roadrunners we had in the Mojave, too. So it's nice to see some unusual birds. :)