The Daily Bucket is a place to catch your casual observations of the natural world and turn them into a valuable resource. Whether it's the first flowers of spring or that odd bug in your basement, don't be afraid to toss your thoughts into the bucket. We love newcomers here.
It's been so hot here in mid Missouri lately I hadn't been going for my usual wood walks and finally I just pushed aside my aversion to sweat, chiggers, and ticks and decided a trip down to the river would be worth it, especially knowing I could cool off in her waters and be nice and refreshed for the return trip home. So with camera, binoculars and water bottle, I headed out the door for a woods walk that proved to be well worth the trip indeed.
About half way through the trip my old sneakers gave up on me and I had to make a rough field repair, that I mentioned in yesterdays bucket, but the makeshift repair held together long enough to finish my walk so what might have been a problem turned out as just a minor annoyance.
I saw lot's of interesting things on the way to the river , took lots of pictures , dragonflies, damsel flys, and other various assorted bugs, and a Great Crested flycatcher and an Indigo Bunting both allowed a couple of pics each, an uncooperative Kingfisher did finally give me one opportunity,which I blew, and several new summer wild flowers which I have yet to identify. But the highlight of the day was when I decided to climb up the bluff and and check out some small caves that I hadn't been to in several years. I used to check them out pretty regularly just to see what kind of critters had been using them. But the climb up to those caves is pretty steep and I don't find it nearly as irresistible as I once did.
But today I thought I'd give it a go, just for old times sake if nothing else, and it was a good decision.
Before I post any pics let me tell you I love vultures. Yes, I know, they have ugly naked heads, they hiss and squabble with one another constantly,their table manners are atrocious, and they eat rotten meat......But if you have never watched one search for and find a rising air thermal and then ride it like he was part of it then you have missed one of the most spectacular phenomenon in the natural world. I love to watch graceful soaring birds, hawks, eagles, pelicans, and vultures are the four that I get to watch pretty often. They all have mastered the air currents and all have an unearthly beauty when they float so effortlessly through the sky but, in my humble opinion anyway, vultures set the standard. Once in the air, though, their ugliness is stripped away like magic and their real beauty is revealed to all who care to see it. I can't imagine what it must feel like to soar so effortlessly high above all the turmoil down here on the ground, but I know it has to be a beautiful thing.
I am lucky to have Turkey Vultures living close enough to me that I get to see them just about every day from the time they show up in the spring until the time they leave in the fall. I like them so much that for the past few years I have picked up roadkills, those that weren't too rank already and that were in a spot that was safe to stop and pick them up. I toss em in the back of my truck, and then toss them out in the field behind the house here where I can watch them. The carcasses are usually found within a few hours and a few hours later there is very little evidence left that anything was there, A stripped backbone, a skull, a bit of fur maybe. The bigger the animal, the more vultures that show up to help eat it. Even a deer will be pretty well gone by the end of the second day. Now that I've erased all doubt about how crazy I am I'll go ahead and post some pics. The first pics are of adults feeding on a groundhog that was killed by my neighbors dog and disposed of by me with a little help from my friends.
And here they are doing what they do best.
So anyhow, I decided to climb the bluff and check out the caves. The first one had a few bones around it and a few smudged up tracks that said a raccoon was probably living there or had been in the not too distant past.
The second one here is where I made my find of the day.
When I looked inside this is what I found.
And here are a couple closer looks.
And last is a little wider view so you can better see the whole nest. Not exactly soft and cozy looking is it?
So what do think, could you love these babies? I do!!