Who is watching whom? A couple of turkey vultures were busy with something beside the road to Roberts Lake. One flew away when I came by, but when I stopped the car and got out with the camera, the other came over to perch in a tree overhead to look me over.
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| "What's she stopping here for?This is our place!" |
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| "Maybe if I make myself look big, she'll be scared away." |
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| "No? Not getting back in her box with wheels? |
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| "So I'll fluff myself out even more. Look! I'm big, I'm scary!" |
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| "Scram! Go home!" |
He won. I got back in the car and went on my way.
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¿Quién está observando a quién? Al lado del camino que da al lago Roberts, una pareja de buitres pavo (zopilote de cabeza roja, Cathartes aura) estaban ocupados con algo entre los arbustos. Cuando llegué, uno se fue, pero cuando detuve el coche y salí con la cámara, el otro vino a posarse en un árbol desde donde me pudo examinar.
- ¿Porqué se detiene aquí? ¡Este sitio es nuestro!
- Tal vez si me hago grande, se espantará.
- ¿No? ¿No se está metiendo en su cajita con ruedas?
- Pues me hago más grande aun. ¡Mira que grande soy! ¡Témeme!
- ¡Ya lárgate! ¡Vete a casa!
Me di por vencida. Me metí en mi cochecito y seguí camino hacia el lago.
Something I've wondered is where all the carrion is, that turkey vultures are presumably feeding on. Are there that many dead megafauna that can sustain the populations of these vultures? I've only seen one on roadkill once, but they seem understandably skittish around people. Out in the BC wilderness, much of the land where predation happens is forested meaning difficult terrain for large birds to navigate to find carcasses.
ReplyDeleteThese birds are amazing in the bush! They somehow manage to fly through branches without hitting any, in spite of their size. I've seen a flock of them burst out of dense bush when I got too close. And they don't have to see their carrion, down there in the undergrowth; they can find it by scent alone, then dive into the bush to feed.
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