The gloomy feel of this photo seems perfect for these two Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) that I spotted in a dead tree on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Many people find vultures to be creepy, probably because they feed on the carcasses of dead animals. I remember too watching cowboy movies when I was growing up in which vultures would be circling overhead, waiting for people to die in the desert wastelands.
There were lots of vultures circling overhead on Monday and in situations like that, I jokingly tell people that I try to move about a lot, lest the vultures mistake me for a potential meal. In my area, we have both turkey vultures and black vultures. They are pretty easy to tell apart, because turkey vultures have very distinctive red heads and black vultures have black heads. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “Whereas Turkey Vultures are lanky birds with teetering flight, Black Vultures are compact birds with broad wings, short tails, and powerful wingbeats. The two species often associate: the Black Vulture makes up for its poor sense of smell by following Turkey Vultures to carcasses.”
The light was coming mostly from behind the two birds, which created the silhouette-like effect that you see in the image below. I lightened the shadows a little, but I like the starkness of the almost monochromatic view of these birds in which most of their details are suggested, but hidden. I think it works well with the simple structure of the branches of the dead tree. Unlike most of my images that concentrate on detailed views of my subjects, this image is more about mood and shapes.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
You captured the mood and shape perfectly, Mike. Coincidentally, I giggled when you shared about moving fast,…also, I immediately think of western movies (which happen to be my favorite). Also, Halloween is such a great time for me so the gloomy makes me think of that, too. About 18 years ago we sadly found a dog I had rescued from the middle school ( it was dropped off) due to watching either vultures (maybe chicken hawks? But my boys said vultures) circling above a neighbor’s field. Take care, Mike!
Here’s a link to a fun little article I came across about vultures and western movies. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/vultures-circling-in-the-sky-doesnt-mean-what-you_b_59efa2aae4b00a4ce5a22231
Oh, thank you, Mike! How awesome!!
You did catch details well on these guys. 😁.
Cool photo, Mike. I like the minimalist effect, and beautiful details like the separated tail feathers and hooked bills.
I agree with you that many people find them creepy, but I love vultures. They’re incredibly well adapted to their clean up duties, and the world would be much more messy and disease ridden without them. They definitely deserve our respect. On another note, I love your detailed images, especially of the dragonflies, but I really like this one, too. It’s definitely a different style, but you tackled it well.
Thanks so much for your kinds words. A lot of my shots are detailed close-ups with either a macro lens or a telephoto lens, but it is fun to mix it up a bit and play around with a different style of shooting. Sometimes it is a deliberate choice and sometimes it is simply a matter of taking advantage of a situation in which I find myself. As for vultures, I find them quite impressive and they definitely play a useful role.