NAP...(Nature Ain't Pretty)

Not always do you get a pelican in the middle of a dive, or a snowy egret in flight. Sometimes...nature is UGly with a capital UG.

There were 14 vultures on the ground. 4 were waiting on the fence. 3 were staring down from the lightpost, and 2 were across the street. And...there was a partridge in a pear tree. (Not really.)

23 turkey vultures. The 2 with the upstretched wings were doing a "back-off please" dance. Everybody was waiting their turn. Gives new meaning to the phrase "pecking order." Wait your turn to peck at the treat.

A young female jogger ran past. Although the birds were only 10 feet from the sidewalk...they never even looked up. I approached from the south. 30 yards...20...10.

I got to within 15 feet. The stench was hard to take. How can they eat that stuff?

I got a little uneasy when 2 of them worked their way behind me. Like an Alfred Hitchcock kind of uneasy. I hatched a quick plan of waddling over, and kicking the 2 in their waddles, but they wisely backed off. Would have been 2 less in the pecking order.

I hated to put this on, because I had many other much prettier shots. I hope you'll have a look at those on my Flickr page. It was a dreary morning...as some of the other shots indicate.

If you're squeamish...don't put it intoLARGE. Even with enlarging my photos...it's still a guess as to what made up the meal. If you force me to take a hunch at the munch of lunch or brunch...I'll go with my favorite animal...squirrel.

Poor thing.