Finished the last chore in the barn, brought out the buckets of milk, turned to put the latch on the door, and looked up. The branches of the dead tree over the barn are often filled with vultures, sometimes 15 or more at a time, so seeing a bird overhead didn't surprise me. However, this fine fellow was most certainly not a vulture, although almost as big. Red-tail hawks often work this area, but this bird had the wrong coloring, and the hawks are smaller. I'm not up on avian species, but I'm wondering if it was a golden eagle. Available photos show eagles to have darker coloring, but....
Vultures usually fly away at my approach or movement, but Big Bird sat and watched me while I took his picture, and was still sitting in the tree after I'd left the pen and was topping off the water trough. This gives a better perspective on his size. He flew off, and his wing span was nearly that of the vultures. There was no sign of the identifying red tail of the hawks. Awesome, whatever he might be.
On any day that I don't need to save milk, I stop at the chicken pen on my way back to the house to give the little kids a splash of moo-juice (in this case, baa-juice). Mama and her turklet are becoming regulars at the breakfast buffet, it seems. Baby had no trouble flying out over the fence with Mama when I walked in. She's getting to be a Big Bird too.
1 comment:
For someone who is NOT a bird brain...you have certainly had your fair share. And I know even less about them than you do, but when I first saw the photo of your large guest, I thought eagle by the shape. How cool is that???
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