The ospreys are back!
I’ve always wanted to write that as an opening ever since I saw my first osprey. They are such a great winged creature. Ospreys and vultures. I love them.
People love ospreys, but not vultures. People often shudder when I talk about vultures. They say negative things, they’re afraid vultures spread disease (they don’t) and talk about how disgusting they are.
But are they? They’re nature’s cleaning crew. They’re our cleaners. Who else consistently deals with roadkill in Lake County?
During my years in Sri Lanka, I took a lot of photographs, besides wedding photographs. The wedding photos were of the very wealthy class. My street photography was of not so wealthy people. I loved taking pictures of the women who swept the streets. They had a small cart and a broom. They didn’t have big machines like in the U.S. The women street cleaners loved it when I took the time to take their photos and to attempt to speak with them. Mostly we just communicated through head gestures (think head waggle for yes and head waggle for no, head waggle for thank you and just about anything else).
Not many people I knew in Sri Lanka spoke to street cleaners or to the trash men. Well, they might have spoken to the trash guys who came around in a tractor with a large trailer piled high with trash, because the trash guys had power. They could stop picking up your trash, which would make life very miserable. So it was important to tip them, especially at holidays.
So, what language do vultures speak? They don’t. In fact, in western movies when vultures ride thermals in tight circles, making screeching noises, that’s all Hollywood. Clint Eastwood’s Hollywood. John Wayne’s Hollywood. Quentin Tarantino’s Hollywood. Vultures don’t screech. They can’t. They don’t have vocal chords. They grunt. They also hiss when irritated. When trying to get a better spot on a dead carcass, like puppies grappling for a teat full of milk. My grandson-in-law, who’s a farmer, says they spit, but actually they vomit, up to 10 feet, which looks like spit, at any animal (or farmer) that’s threatening or harassing them. Good to know.
Have you looked in the sky to see a group of vultures circling? They’re like black glider planes, with fringed wings, white under wingtips, silent in the skies. Quite beautiful actually.
One day, while driving along the Nice/Lucerne Cutoff, I saw roughly 10 vultures feeding on a dead deer. They hopped around the carcass, diving into it with their entire head. Their heads have no feathers, which helps keep them clean. I found it so fascinating that I wrote a poem about them. The first line was: I want a vulture to be my best friend.
The Nice/Lucerne Cutoff is a dangerous place to drive fast, although most drivers do take the curves at great speed. One night I took a curve and almost eliminated a family of three raccoons. I swerved into the left lane to miss them. Thank goodness there was no oncoming traffic. If there had been, I’d be another roadkill statistic. And then a deer jumped onto the road. Four animals in one night. Ever since then, I am the slowpoke driver, driving 40 mph, that people behind me hate. I’m hyper vigilant, keeping watch for animals crossing the road. No need to add to the vultures’ menus.
Right after my experience, two of my girlfriends hit deer, totaling their cars. Luckily neither friend was hurt. Just the deer and the cars.
There are a lot of osprey nests along that road. In fact there are osprey nests all over Lake County. I am extra careful when checking them out as they sit atop a very tall pole. My natural reaction is to see if there are adults in the nest. If there are two, it’s a treat. When there’s more than two, it’s the grand prize, which means babies. But keeping eyes on the road is more important.
Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of white pelicans in the Rodman Slough as I cross the bridge. Now that the water is back, not completely, the bird life has come back. Not that the birds have disappeared, but with more water comes more birds. The Redbud Audubon Society in Lake County conducts walks so perhaps I’ll once again get off the couch and move the blood. Right after I petition our Board of Supervisors to build an animal bridge over Highway 29 so that deer and other creatures can cross over the highway without killing themselves and drivers. The vultures don’t need a bridge, they can fly, fly high and silently. Wish I could…but that’s another column.
Lucy Llwellyn Byard is currently a freelance journalist for the Record-Bee and various other publications. You can email her at lucywgtd@gmail.com
