There are many black vultures in this area and once in a while turkey vultures visit.

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Black vultures have a white underside.
[A vulture with its wings fully outstretched flies overhead. The center part of the feathers closest to the body are black while the ones further out, including ones its tail, are whitish-grey.]

Most mornings I would find black vultures perched on a lamp post in the parking lot on the north side of Beach Boulevard. I like how they evenly space themselves.
[The two spokes of the lamp post stick out 180 degrees from each other above the tree tops. There are three birds on each segment of the post and one in the middle-joining piece.]

The next morning the black vultures were playing 'see how many birds fit on the lamp post'.
[There are seven birds on each spoke, one in the middle, and one on each light below the post for a total of 17 birds.]

From over 30 foot in the air this black vulture watched me.
[A black vulture perched on a large branch of a pine tree has its head bent downward so it is looking directly at the camera.]

The colorful outer wing of a black vulture.
[Viewing the vulture from the back, the left wing is outstretched showing the off-white centers of those feathers. The left wing is folded on its back. It's standing on the ground with one foot as if it just landed.]

This wood stork appears to be sneaking up on the black vulture. In reality the wood storks were fishing in the water off to the left of this area and the vultures were waiting for leftovers.
[Wood stork is walking through the grass from left to right. A black vulture stands in the grass on the right. This vulture has a grey head and all the rest is black. Its body is nearly as big as the wood stork's.]

There must be a dead something nearby.
[Two vultures standing atop a fence. One faces the camera while the one beside it looks at the other while facing the opposite direction.]

These two are squabbling over the remains of an armadillo on the sidewalk.
[The remains of a dead armadillo are strewn across the sidewalk. The adult vulture on the right stands nearly on top of one part of the remains. A juvenile vulture stands a bit further away from the remains on the left.]

Turkey vultures on the move decided to stop in this tree for a day.
[A large southern pine tree with no needles has 23 turkey vultures perched along the branches. One vulture at the top has its wings partially spread revealing white feathers under the black ones. White feathers are visible on one other bird, but all the rest appear to be all black. The trees surrounding this one do have green needles. The sky is blue with no clouds.]

A closer view of the turkey vultures at the top makes the red heads of several of these birds visible.
[At the top of the tree are 13 resting birds facing away from the camera. One on the right has its wings outstretched. Another on the right has its wings open a little and its red head turned back toward the camera as it seems to scratch itself. Several red heads are visible on the left and the white beaks are also visible.]

Top turkey vulture is doing the streaker pose. This lets sunlight on the feathers to kill vermin on them.
[All four birds at the very top of the tree face the camera. The topmost bird has its wings bent at the

On the left is a junior turkey vulture with its gray head.
[Two turkey vultures sit in the tree with one on either side of the branch going up between them. On the left is a vulture with an all gray head and beak. On the right the vulture has its head tucked into its left wing, but parts of the red head are visible. ]

This turkey vulture was in a different tree about a hundred yards away from the other tree.
[One turkey vulture perched in a tree with its back to the camera and its wings nearly fully spread out. Individual feathers are visible in this fairly close view. Only the tip of the beak is white while the rest appears to be a lighter red than the red on its head. ]

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All photos © S. M. Garver