It was a great day here on the nature channel.

Seven years ago, when we first came down the lane to look at this house, we met our soon to be neighbour feeding dead mice (her cats had killed) to the baby turkey vultures. Now, that may seem like an ordinary occurence to you but we had never seen a turkey vulture, or a baby turkey vulture or indeed fed them dead mice.. We didn’t have that sort of ugly bird goings on at the other end of the island.

The vultures didn’t come back to their cave in the rocks after we moved here. We suspect it was because of the dog… Perhaps he wandered up the cliff to their hole in the wall and spooked them…

But they are back. This morning I tried to get a picture of them in the cave but they heard me coming and came out to greet me…

Fun facts about turkey vultures

When a turkey vulture feels threatened, for instance, at its nest or at a carcass, they can launch their vomit containing powerful stomach acids up to 10 feet away!  Vomiting on potential predators isn’t their only gross habit; they also defecate on their legs and feet when they are feeling hot. This habit cools their blood vessels and kills harmful bacteria and parasites that might otherwise make them sick.

They are definitely the ugliest birds I have ever had the misfortune to see beside  my garden…But if they want to return here to have their babies, my neighbour will be here soon with, what I am sure will be, a plentiful supply of dead mice.

Left over from the renovation was a bunch three-inch ABS piping. E cut the pipes into 18 inch lengths with holes at the base.. I buried them between my tomatoes to see if I could have better luck getting water to the roots. I’ll try anything at this point to get water to the vegies…

E wrapped up his day pouring a cement step at the bottom of the stairs to the water.

Then, just as we had had supper and sat down to catch our breath, the same three Orca from last weekend showed up to feed in front of our house. They hung around for about an hour.. Just far enough out to frustrate my picture-taking..

I had lots of gorgeous pictures of flowers blooming in my garden to show you but they will have to wait… today it’s all about

vultures and whales