{"id":81237,"date":"2021-03-12T05:49:28","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T12:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=81237"},"modified":"2025-09-16T14:12:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T19:12:06","slug":"signs-of-spring-first-turkey-vulture-sighting-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/12\/signs-of-spring-first-turkey-vulture-sighting-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Signs Of Spring – First Turkey Vulture Sighting Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SpringSpring Turkey Vulture on a fence post \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday afternoon I received an email from the UBird Google group<\/span><\/a> with a first of the year Turkey Vulture sighting and that got me excited.<\/p>\n

I know, I know. Some people don’t get excited about Turkey Vultures. I’m not one of those people.<\/p>\n

I like photographing Turkey Vultures. I like their dark plumage, their white bills, and their bald heads. I like how they are nature’s clean up crew. I like how they thermoregulate in the sun. I like how they stick together when roosting. And I love to watch them soar on thermals. Any time, any day.<\/p>\n

I know that the next time I head out into the field I will be watching for Turkey Vultures on the wing, on the ground, on cliff faces, and ranch corrals. I can’t resist photographing these large, dark birds.<\/p>\n

I have missed them over the winter. It is great to know that the Turkey Vultures are back in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Yesterday afternoon I received an email from the UBird Google group with a first of the year Turkey Vulture sighting and that got me excited.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,1148,1315,26],"tags":[4004,4226,2663,4322,3830,898,153,2817,4057,165,5036,5387,9968,2443,4618,4617,8917],"class_list":["post-81237","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-behavior","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-cathartes-aura","tag-fence","tag-fence-post","tag-raptors","tag-sage","tag-sagebrush","tag-spring","tag-sunning","tag-thermoregulating","tag-thermoregulation-posture","tag-turkey-vulture","tag-vulture","tag-vultures","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulating-mia-mcpherson-1854.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-l8h","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":126457,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/29\/turkey-vultures-are-heading-to-their-breeding-grounds\/","url_meta":{"origin":81237,"position":0},"title":"Turkey Vultures Are Heading To Their Breeding Grounds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A little birdie told me that they easily saw more than 60 turkey vultures flying over St. George two evenings ago. That birdie was my good friend April Olson.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Turkey Vulture on an old wooden fence, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/turkey-vulture-old-wooden-fence-spring-mia-mcpherson-2160.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/turkey-vulture-old-wooden-fence-spring-mia-mcpherson-2160.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/turkey-vulture-old-wooden-fence-spring-mia-mcpherson-2160.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/turkey-vulture-old-wooden-fence-spring-mia-mcpherson-2160.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101575,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/17\/my-first-of-year-turkey-vulture\/","url_meta":{"origin":81237,"position":1},"title":"My First of Year Turkey Vulture","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This post with an image of my first of year Turkey Vulture is about 16 days late because I actually spotted this vulture on April 1st way up in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Roosting first of year Turkey Vulture, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/turkey-vulture-first-of-year-mia-mcpherson-7881.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/turkey-vulture-first-of-year-mia-mcpherson-7881.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/turkey-vulture-first-of-year-mia-mcpherson-7881.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/turkey-vulture-first-of-year-mia-mcpherson-7881.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":142960,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/18\/turkey-vulture-on-muscadine-vines\/","url_meta":{"origin":81237,"position":2},"title":"Turkey Vulture On Muscadine Vines","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A simple photo of a Turkey Vulture perched on a Muscadine vine is what I\u2019m sharing today. I took it last week at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Turkey Vulture on a Muscadine vine, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-muscadine-vine-mia-mcpherson-5093.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-muscadine-vine-mia-mcpherson-5093.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-muscadine-vine-mia-mcpherson-5093.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-muscadine-vine-mia-mcpherson-5093.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":129700,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/06\/22\/turkey-vulture-images-from-tishomingo-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":81237,"position":3},"title":"Turkey Vulture Images From Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On my first trip to Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge, I was delighted to take some Turkey Vulture images, where I had also photographed Black Vultures.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Turkey Vulture at Tishomingo NWR, Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge, Johnston County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/turkey-vulture-adult-tishomingo-nwr-mia-mcpherson-9383.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/turkey-vulture-adult-tishomingo-nwr-mia-mcpherson-9383.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/turkey-vulture-adult-tishomingo-nwr-mia-mcpherson-9383.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/turkey-vulture-adult-tishomingo-nwr-mia-mcpherson-9383.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":115586,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/02\/international-vulture-awareness-day-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":81237,"position":4},"title":"International Vulture Awareness Day 2023","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is International Vulture Awareness Day 2023. I admit to having a soft spot for vultures because they are often misunderstood, and because I tend to stand up for those who have no voice.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two Turkey Vultures on a spring morning, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/turkey-vultures-on-a-cliff-mia-mcpherson-3929.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/turkey-vultures-on-a-cliff-mia-mcpherson-3929.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/turkey-vultures-on-a-cliff-mia-mcpherson-3929.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/turkey-vultures-on-a-cliff-mia-mcpherson-3929.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":105894,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/09\/03\/international-vulture-awareness-day-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":81237,"position":5},"title":"International Vulture Awareness Day 2022","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The first Saturday of September is International Vulture Awareness Day which is a day to bring awareness to these birds that face a range of threats.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Three Turkey Vultures and a lichen covered rock, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/turkey-vulture-trio-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-4631.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/turkey-vulture-trio-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-4631.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/turkey-vulture-trio-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-4631.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/turkey-vulture-trio-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-4631.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\/81237","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=81237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}