September 6, 2025 is International Vulture Awareness Day. I certainly wouldn’t want to live in a world without vultures scattered within it. They do such an excellent job of helping our environment stay clean. Vultures help to control a lot of otherwise harmful debris. Yes, their diet is filled with decomposing carcasses and that is okay with me. Join me in my thanks to these marvelous birds such as this black vulture at Jordan Lake.
Jordan Lake. Single bright white down feather cast into the air as a black vulture preens. Sometimes the only picture of a vulture we carry in our minds is that of a vulture during its meal of carrion. Yet, like bald eagles or African lions who become a mess during a meal, vultures also soon cleanse themselves. I would not want to live in a world without vultures and their necessary task of helping to clean our environment.
Jordan Lake Dam. A pair of northern mockingbirds decided that a black vulture was spending way too much time inside their territory. Being mockingbirds, they decided to harass the vulture. At one point the vulture and one of the mockingbirds seemed to have a quiet moment of contemplation … didn’t last long.
Jordan Lake Dam, Haw River: Maybe the sign should have read “danger: Vultures subject to sudden rise …”. There were 7 black vultures on the sign. One of them felt that the situation was a mite crowded and so began a domino effect!
Jordan Lake Dam, Haw River: As a veterinarian, I have a lively interest in anatomy. An owl can do a 270° head turn without hurting themselves. Most birds can get between 180° and about 200° rotation. I think some birds are just more flexible than others … especially the raptors. This is a fledgling black vulture, this morning at the dam, doing close to the 270° head turn of an owl. The series starts at the upper left and goes clockwise. The photo with the red border is the furthest reach of the turn. Quite a flexible neck!
Jordan Dam, Haw River: I had seen the black vulture flock come into the parking lot earlier. They are always looking for left over hotdogs and fried chicken pieces. They are quite adept at taking the lids off the trashcans and helping themselves to the human throw-aways that are inside. My attention was drawn back to the vultures when I heard the lid of the trashcan hit the pavement. I started photographing as one of the younger vultures noticed the sign … I could almost hear him thinking, “my friend is stuck in the trashcan, he needs help, and well, just how am I supposed to dial 911 when I don’t have an iPhone?”. I put my camera down, quietly walked up on the flock, gently tipped the trashcan over on its side freeing the vulture inside of it. The flock chirred their thanks and we watched the embarrassed vulture walk away. Sometimes, you just never know what will happen at the lake…
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