Things that fly i

Posted by Ron (Saint Louis, United States) on 17 April 2008 in Animal & Insect and Portfolio.

I spent Tuesday afternoon at Klondike Park along the bluffs of the Missouri River observing what I thought was an incredible display of hawks gliding in the stiff spring breeze. What I've discovered in doing a little research is that the birds I enjoyed observing and photographing were, in fact, juvenile turkey vultures. Rather majestic animals in flight; this one tilted for me at just the right moment so that the sun illuminated the tips of its wings.

Comments (31)

Marion from Nanaimo, BC, Canada

Turkey vultures, beautiful wing span and you're right, the sun silhouttes them beautifully.

17 Apr 2008 12:05am

Disoriented from Washington, DC, United States

Wow, a very nice capture! How many shots did you take?

17 Apr 2008 1:30am

@Disoriented: Over the course of about 2.5 hours I took more than 500 shots.

doublekkphotogrphy from West Richland, United States

great photo

17 Apr 2008 1:37am

omid vahabzadeh from tehran, Iran

wow! Graet shot
i like it

17 Apr 2008 3:01am

Alun Lambert from Cheshire, United Kingdom

Very nice image

17 Apr 2008 3:14am

Kris from Middlesbrough, United Kingdom

Great stuff. Very elegant.

17 Apr 2008 4:09am

Saeed from Tehran, Iran

very nice shot. Great Capture :)

17 Apr 2008 4:54am

Betty from New Jersey, United States

Great shot, Ron! Love the light!

17 Apr 2008 6:46am

GJC from Kyoto, Japan

Impressive with excellent light. I also like the placement in the frame.

17 Apr 2008 7:13am

Observing from Chester, United Kingdom

A splendid capture Ron, I like the light coming through it's wings.

17 Apr 2008 8:02am

marc from granby, Canada

splendid capture bravo..

17 Apr 2008 8:25am

Brittney from California, United States

So so nice!

17 Apr 2008 8:35am

Melissa W. from Warsaw, Indiana, United States

Great capture, Ron. Beautiful light...wonderfully framed...great job!

17 Apr 2008 9:27am

Lorraine from Gatineau, Canada

Wow he's huged, very impressive shot Ron :)

17 Apr 2008 9:46am

Craig from Vacaville, California, United States

Love the light! Great shot!

17 Apr 2008 10:25am

Pied Crow from Nairobi, Kenya

Like Crows, Vultures have a bad name but their own beauty. This one is lovely, the way it is flying into the frame is wonderful.

17 Apr 2008 11:52am

danthro from Suburbia, United States

beautiful light and framing! one word comes to mind: "Soar"

17 Apr 2008 12:13pm

Jrask from Pasadena, United States

Great framing on this one Ron, wonderful capture!

17 Apr 2008 12:46pm

Evi from Athens, Greece

Beautiful!

17 Apr 2008 2:18pm

Graham Russon from Cape Town, South Africa

Stunning, what a marvelous bird and a magnificent picture

17 Apr 2008 2:46pm

Richard_Irwin from Belper, United Kingdom

An incredible shot of an amazing bird, top work Ron.

17 Apr 2008 2:53pm

Barbara from Florida, United States

Wonderful capture. Enjoyed the links too.

17 Apr 2008 2:58pm

MaryB from Staffordshire, United Kingdom

That is one amazing wingspan and this is one amazing capture Ron.

17 Apr 2008 4:34pm

Monte Stevens from Fort Collins, United States

Well captured, both in exposure and composition.

17 Apr 2008 5:21pm

Tracey from White Hall, United States

Wonderful wildlife capture! The wings are just gorgeous! It makes me feel better when other photographers tell me they took so many pictures.

17 Apr 2008 5:22pm

akarui from Kagoshima, Japan

Beautiful light on the wings.

17 Apr 2008 10:02pm

Lid Jong from Klang, Malaysia

look at the photo, can feel like we are flying in sky...
nice shoot.

18 Apr 2008 9:58am

Anita from West Nottingham, United States

Good capture getting the light on the wing tips! Turkey vultures are amazing. I love seeing them glide. Unfortunately, they don't get the respect hawks and eagles receive. I wonder why? They do such a good job of keeping our environment clean. When I was a child, a turkey vulture would perch on the window sill of our second story dinning room whenever we ate. We kids thought it was great, but I don't think my parents liked it as mucy, though, I don't remember them scarring it off.

18 Apr 2008 10:43am