~sorry about the formatting, HTML is fighting with me over hard returns~
I spent last night in Point Reyes, at the research house on Tomales Bay. I got in too late to see much of anything, but this morning I sat on the couch in front of the huge bay windows and watched pelicans and other sea birds flying and diving in the sunrise.
Suddenly, I heard and saw a large bird take off from the house, swoop out to the Bay, and swoop around straight back at the house. While I was sitting there wondering what he was going to land on, I heard a big thwack and looked over at two of my housemates stunned in disbelief.
The turkey vulture had not landed on anything, he had run smack into the house windows and tumbled down into a bush, where he rested, upside down. Not only had he run into a window, but from the giant wing marks left there, we could tell that his head had run smack into the wood divider between the windows. He obviously hadn't even been seeing glass.
We all stood at the window and watched the vulture struggle below us. No one wanted to help him for fear that he might be sick. After a long while, he managed to upright himself and hop out of the thicket toward the beach. Where he tried to fly and ran into the only thing standing on the beach: a metal pole.
After shaking himself off, the vulture tried to fly again, but this time he landed smack dab in the Bay. I think we were all convinced that we would witness the instant drowing death of a turkey vuture, but surprisingly he floated. And slowly
but surely
he kicked his way toward shore. Or as one of the housemates recounted to another who had been sleeping, the vulture "swam ashore." I'm pretty sure that's not quite what happened.
When I left for work, the vulture was standing on shore where he'd emerged from the water. Just hanging out. Although as I was leaving, a housemate announced that the vulture had just puked. I did not look.
Some things are best left to the imagination.
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