I think I got close yesterday. But I have still yet to actually see a turkey vulture.
I was taking the dog for a walk. We usually go down a little path through the woods that circles back to a road. Not a huge hike, but a nice little stroll to give her (and me) a little exercise.
As we started down the path, I started hearing this truly scary sounding screeching. It didn’t sound like anything I had heard before. It sounded like something being strangled. And it was really loud. Not only that, we seemed to get closer the further we walked.
The dog kept looking at me. She has never really been the type that has to run off and check out every sound she hears.
We met up with an actual turkey one day a few years ago. You don’t see a lot of wild turkeys around here. I believe this one was just taking a break from where he lived at the time and ended up walking down our road through the woods. It wasn’t hard to identify. It sounded like a turkey. And, like the few other turkeys I have met in my life, it was strutting down the road like it owned the place. But when the dog started to approach, the turkey flew off. (Yes, they can fly. Not very far, and maybe not if you drop them out of a helicopter. But this one got himself into a tree.)
The dog even was chased by a deer when she was much younger. Could be that scared her for life.
But in any case, there was a hole lot of really loud, noisy screeching going on, and we seemed to be heading in that general direction.
As we got closer, I paused to get my phone out of my pocket, and get the camera ready to go. Just in case. But at the same time, the dog took that moment to suddenly feel brave and kept moving ahead. So before I knew it, there was the screeching noise going over my head. The dog had spooked whatever the spooky sounding thing was.
About the only thing I know for sure is that it had wings, because it flew over the trees above me. I never did see it. But I sure heard it. I think that anyone within a mile must have heard it.
When I got home, I googled turkey vulture sounds and I’m pretty sure that’s what I was hearing. It’s pretty hard to mistake. They say it doesn’t have an actual call, but hisses and grunts when it’s feeding. I’m not sure what it was eating, but there was a whole lot of hissing and grunting going on.
So I have yet to actually see one. But I can say I have heard one.
