Buzzards by the Water

We first saw the buzzards about a week ago, three large dark birds by the shore. At first we thought they were immature eagles (a common sighting), but the bodies were too small. The necks were too short for cormorants. But the giveaway was the head and beak, a reddish head, and a yellow beak with a white tip. Turkey Vultures, commonly known as buzzards.

We were unsure what this portended, was this a new nest? Mark read that buzzards often hang around dead bodies, but we hadn't seen anything. A few days later the birds were still there.

"They must nest somewhere," I thought, eager for the chance to get a picture.

This morning, right by that same location, that supposition was proved wrong, for there at the base of the tree was a deer skeleton. I'd seen this deer before, bob, bob, bobbing (already dead) along about three weeks ago in the same location. Since then, I'd walked down there with Mark specifically to search for the deer, and paddled that stretch many times without seeing anything.  But here it was back again, far worse for the wear. I guess there's always more to see!