{"id":56936,"date":"2019-03-30T05:14:50","date_gmt":"2019-03-30T11:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=56936"},"modified":"2024-08-26T11:44:45","modified_gmt":"2024-08-26T16:44:45","slug":"turkey-vultures-have-returned-to-northern-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/03\/30\/turkey-vultures-have-returned-to-northern-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey Vultures Have Returned To Northern Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

I haven’t seen or photographed my first of year Turkey Vultures yet but it nice to know that Nature’s clean up crew has returned to northern Utah. I wonder if the vultures that have migrated woke up to snow like I did yesterday morning.<\/p>\n

\"TurkeyTurkey Vulture on a grassy hillside – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I know that some bird photographers will walk or drive right past Turkey Vultures because they don’t think of them as pretty birds or because they are hard birds to expose properly due to their dark plumage but I am not one of those photographers, I like photographing our vultures. I enjoy the challenge and I wouldn’t pass them up just because they aren’t pretty birds.<\/p>\n

I photographed this Turkey Vulture two years ago as it rested on a grassy hillside along with several other vultures as they warmed up in the morning sun. The only thing that bothers me a bit about this photo is all the cheatgrass I can see growing on the hillside because it is invasive, takes over where native grasses should be and it is highly flammable.<\/p>\n

Utah doesn’t have a shortage of carrion for these vultures to feed on and whether it is a road killed deer, rabbit, squirrel or porcupine they are ready to clean it up and they aren’t our only bird of prey that does that, Golden Eagles will help clean up road kill too. I think it would be great to drive up on a road kill where there are both species actually!<\/p>\n

I’m itching to get back out into the field because I want to see my first of the year Turkey Vultures on the wing.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Turkey Vulture photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m itching to get back out into the field because I want to see my first of the year Turkey Vultures on the wing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,1315,26],"tags":[4004,2663,4846,4322,4098,3747,4109,11050,751,11852,165,2443,4618,4617],"class_list":["post-56936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-turkey-vultures","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-carrion","tag-cathartes-aura","tag-desert","tag-grass","tag-grasses","tag-grassy","tag-hillside","tag-ranchlands","tag-spring","tag-turkey-vulture","tag-vulture","tag-vultures"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/turkey-vulture-hillside-mia-mcpherson-5703.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-eOk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46132,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/11\/turkey-vultures-at-a-corral-hillside-canada-goose-and-a-red-tailed-hawk-fly-over\/","url_meta":{"origin":56936,"position":0},"title":"Turkey Vultures at a Corral, Hillside Canada Goose and a Red-tailed Hawk Fly Over","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning was bright and sunny and I had fun photographing Turkey Vultures at a corral, a hillside Canada Goose and a Red-tailed Hawk flying over with nesting materials in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Turkey Vulture roosting on an old corral, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/turkey-vulture-corral-mia-mcpherson-5468.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/turkey-vulture-corral-mia-mcpherson-5468.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/turkey-vulture-corral-mia-mcpherson-5468.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/turkey-vulture-corral-mia-mcpherson-5468.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51608,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/11\/adult-turkey-vulture-in-flight-close-up-almost-too-close\/","url_meta":{"origin":56936,"position":1},"title":"Adult Turkey Vulture In Flight Close Up – Almost Too Close","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"When the third Turkey Vulture lifted off I expected it to go north like the other two vultures had but instead it flew south and very close to where I was at the side of the road in a vehicle being used as a mobile blind, almost too close.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Turkey Vulture in flight close up, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/turkey-vulture-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4762.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/turkey-vulture-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4762.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/turkey-vulture-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4762.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/turkey-vulture-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4762.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41342,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/26\/golden-eagle-turkey-vultures-plus-a-covey-of-gray-partridges\/","url_meta":{"origin":56936,"position":2},"title":"Golden Eagle, Turkey Vultures Plus a Covey of Gray Partridges","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent time in northern Utah yesterday and I was able to photograph a juvenile Golden Eagle, Turkey Vultures plus a covey of Gray Partridges.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Gray Partridge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/gray-partridge-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3166.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/gray-partridge-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3166.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/gray-partridge-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3166.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/gray-partridge-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3166.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52571,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/06\/13\/photographing-turkey-vultures-on-a-june-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":56936,"position":3},"title":"Photographing Turkey Vultures On A June Morning","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"As a bird photographer I have found that it is easy to make any species of owl look interesting and appealing in my images but it is more of a challenge to do that with Turkey Vultures but that doesn't mean I don't try. I will always try.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Turkey Vulture in front of a sage covered hillside, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sage-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-1411.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sage-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-1411.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sage-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-1411.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sage-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-1411.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70255,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/05\/26\/adult-turkey-vultures-thermoregulating\/","url_meta":{"origin":56936,"position":4},"title":"Adult Turkey Vultures Thermoregulating","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In April there was a bright, sunny morning when I had several opportunities to photograph adult Turkey Vultures warming up after a chilly night by thermoregulating.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Close up of an adult Turkey Vulture thermoregulating in Box Elder County, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulating-close-up-left-mia-mcpherson-2298.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulating-close-up-left-mia-mcpherson-2298.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulating-close-up-left-mia-mcpherson-2298.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulating-close-up-left-mia-mcpherson-2298.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60294,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/18\/immature-turkey-vultures-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":56936,"position":5},"title":"Immature Turkey Vultures In Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't have many decent photos of immature Turkey Vultures so when I spotted several of them 11 days ago in northern Utah I was excited but my hopes for good light on the hatch year birds were dashed by clouds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hatch year Turkey Vulture walking in lichen-covered rocks, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-immature-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2255.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-immature-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2255.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-immature-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2255.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-immature-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2255.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}