a venue of. . . .

. . . vultures.

Great.

We did see what we're calling a wild turkey the other day, so you can easily imagine how I felt when I found the wild turkey tree, right where neighbors have reported a wild turkey crossing, towards the front of the Greenwood. Cool! Wild turkeys are very friendly feeling around Thanksgiving time. There they were, five of them, all perched comfortably in a big old snag tree, big dark blobs against the sky.

"I didn't know turkeys roosted so high off the ground." I said. "Or roosted communally like that." the king added. We trained binoculars on our subjects.

"Hmm. That doesn't really look like a turkey beak." the king said. I looked through the binoculars.

"Nope, it doesn't." I pulled out the North American Birds reference book. Where to start? Wild turkeys, hawks, eagles, they were all in the same section. Well that makes it easier! These are all big birds. But what kind? I flipped through the pages, and stopped. I looked at the picture; looked at the birds; checked the habitat range and size. It all fit.

"Great." I said. "There are vultures perched in that tree. Figures. I guess every stone tower needs a vulture."

Well, we've got five of 'em. Black vultures. Roosting, that's a venue of vultures. Soaring, we've got a kettle of them.

Somehow that adds an element I wasn't quite counting on.