Vultures in Dedham
By adamg - 7/7/12 - 7:32 pm
We drove into Dedham Square late this afternoon and saw what looked like a couple of hawks lazily circling overhead. But when we pulled into the parking lot by Rte. 1, it was obvious those were no hawks - they were too big. They decided to perch on a light pole across the highway - between Staples and that building with the porno place. Thank goodness for cameras with zoom lenses!
Comments
We need something to eat up
We need something to eat up all the coon, squirrel and possum road kill.
Or maybe ...
They were waiting for some of the seagulls that were congregating behind the Tahiti to drop.
Turkey vulture?
Turkey vulture?
Yes, you are correct...
a vulture, most specifically a turkey vulture. Spectacular birds with a huge wingspan!
Awesome
Turkey vultures are cool, I used to see them up in the Adirondacks all the time. Assuming I can get images to work here, here's my favorite turkey vulture image ever:
edit: I clearly don't know what I'm doing trying to embed images. Here's a link. http://imgur.com/dQnI8?tags
Love it and I am so happy
that the one who landed in front of me whilst I was running up in northern Vermont, did not projectile vomit on me!
On their way to Fenway
They are here to help us get rid of the Dead Sox carcasses.
Dedham has always had vultures
They're called selectmen.
Zoom lenses
>>>>>between Staples and that building with the porno place. Thank goodness for cameras with zoom lenses! >>>>>
Why thank goodness? What were you able to see in the porno place with your zoom lenses?
(sorry, could not resist!)
JPM
Oh, if only it were still on the highway side
Instead of all the way in the back, with the windows all blocked up ...
They were waiting to pick off
They were waiting to pick off the last of the porn DVD buyers - a dying breed,
Hawks from turkey vultures
One easy way to distinguish hawks from vultures while they're flying is that the tips of turkey vulture's wings appear frayed from a distance, or as though they have fingers.
Hawks wing tips appear entire - not frayed. Then, of course, distinguishing the several types of hawks common in this area becomes increasingly difficult, at least for me.
Other ways to tell
Hawks have a very flat wing, i.e. very little dihedral. That is, when they're soaring, you could draw a straight line from wingtip to wingtip and it would follow right along the leading edge of the wing. Vultures have a very pronounced V - lots of dihedral. Their body looks like it's hanging from the wings. You can easily see this difference when they're in lift and circling, even from a long distance. (Thanks to my bud Matt for that tip)
Also, hawks are just much better fliers - they're much smoother when circling. Vultures are very jerky fliers, rocking back and forth a lot.
Whenever I see a hawk soaring, I have to take a few minutes (or more) to watch. Drives my wife nuts sometimes.
In Confused
Are we talking about the bird or women from Dedham aka Shelbyville