Fishhawk Lake
Turkey Vultures-Nature's Recyclers
Sometimes your timing pays off. I was heading down Fishhawk Rd and saw a truck stopped with two men paying rapt attention to something, which I took casual note of. As I made my turn onto the highway, right past them I saw what they had noticed. 
There, before me were Nature's Recyclers in all their splendor--Vult-a-surprise! Turkey vultures, with wings spread sunning themselves on fencelines! AND I had my camera!!!
These creatures have a face only a mother could love (looking similar to turkeys), but they are massive and quite majestic when you see their 6' wing span in flight.
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Usually the only time you see them is when they are circling high in the air or all crowded around roadkill like a food fest (Vultfest!) until a vehicle scares them off.
It can be rather disturbing coming across them because they really are massive and when you're driving on the highway at a speed of 60 mph and SUDDENLY this rather prehistoric creature rises up into your sightline, it can give you a bit of a scare! Here is a bit of background about vultures from vulturesociety.com:
Vultures are large, carrion-eating birds that are excellent at soaring flight. Like lions and other large predators, vultures eat meat, but unlike lions, vultures do not need to kill to survive.
Why do turkey vultures pose like this?
It's called the Horaltic Pose.
Turkey Vultures are often seen standing in a spread-winged stance (see photo at right). This is called the "horaltic pose." The stance may serve multiple functions, including warming the body and drying the wings. Research on this pose suggests that turkey vultures spread their wings in the mornings, once the sun's intensity reaches a certain level, to raise their body temperature (which they lower at night by a few degrees as an energy saving mechanism).
This was a rare opportunity for capturing the turkey vultures at leisure and I counted myself a lucky one to be in the right place at the right time WITH MY CAMERA in tow.
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