Turkey Vulture

Dundas, ON. January 25. 2024.  There was nothing winter-inspirational about today’s weather forecast. A lot of ‘Near zero visibility in fog’ and ‘Dense fog patches’.  Better than some of the stuff January can throw around I suppose.

As I drove to a class this afternoon, I made a mental note to see just what birds are about – or even visible.  I wasn’t expecting much of course.  An American Crow probing busily for something in the roadside detritus, a trio of sleepy Canada Geese and scores of Rock Pigeons strung along utility lines just about summed it up.  An individual Rock Pigeon, regarded closely with an eye for appreciation, can be a rather gorgeous creature, but by the hundredweight they’re really just pigeons.

When I reached my destination and having paid for parking with a phone-app, (What an advance that is! If ever there is/was a barrier between provider and customer, it is the wretched pay-for-parking machine.) and as I made my way to class, I watched a Turkey Vulture slide out of the fog and settle on a nearby parapet wall.  This iPhone photo is the best I could manage.

A January Turkey Vulture in southern Ontario is notable, at least it was but, as part of the inexorable expansion of the Turkey Vulture range and the marked shift in our winter weather from much bone-numbing cold to ‘Dense fog patches’, these birds have managed to establish a winter toe-hold.  My Bird of the Day, a bit of a surprise but not entirely unexpected.

(p.s. Frustrating setbacks by technology mandarins and a few personal priority shifts had put My Bird of the Day on ice for a while. I think I’m refreshed.)