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Turkey Vulture and Jay
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Turkey Vulture and Jay

by Ray Whitt

Gallery: AvianPosted May 11, 20151,312 views12 comments

Taken at the Palisades in New Jersey. I don't know how this Bluejay ended up in the mouth of a Turkey Vulture. This picture is 500 feet above the Hudson River. The background are trees at cliffside and the patch of blue is the river. There are a pair of Peregine falcons nesting on the cliff. They have been active feeding on the large population of Bluejays. Nikon D800 with 500mm lens, ISO 400, f6.3, Shutter 1/1250. Thanks, Ray

Comments

12 comments
Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on May 11, 2015 at 11:08 PM

wow--that is crazy! what a great, unique capture!  personally I'd take a little off the right both for the comp and to remove some of the blue, but other than that, it looks great.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments
Comment posted by keith mitchell on May 12, 2015 at 3:33 AM

Ray don't think you will ever get a chance like this again,very well done catching this unique  moment.

Keith.

Registered on July 12, 2008, 127 Posts, 1735 Comments
Comment posted by Ken Archer on May 12, 2015 at 6:54 AM

Indeed a unique capture by both of you Ray, excellent exposure work here. The large version os a must see.

Sweet One laugh

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments
Comment posted by Thiraviyam Yogaraj on May 12, 2015 at 8:29 AM

Lovely one 

Registered on June 13, 2013, 101 Posts, 100 Comments
Comment posted by Paul Breitkreuz on May 12, 2015 at 9:22 AM

Amazing action shot here, Jay. Image clarity is very good on the larger version. laugh

Registered on February 25, 2006, 525 Posts, 8448 Comments
Comment posted by Charles Gangas on May 12, 2015 at 9:51 AM

Very unique capture Ray. I like this as posted-the IQ in the larger image is excellent. Very cool post.devil

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments
Comment posted by Jim Hansen on May 12, 2015 at 10:05 AM

This is really unusual in my experience.  I have never seen a fulture fly away with prey, least of all a blue jay!  I agree with Brian's suggestion to see how it looks with some cropping from the right.  Very nice.

Registered on May 5, 2011, 161 Posts, 908 Comments
Comment posted by Howard Cheek on May 12, 2015 at 12:57 PM

Very rare sight indeed, does leave it wide open as to how the BJ ended up in its grasp..

I'll bet there's only handful of similar images out there..

Great job on this Raydevil

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments
Comment posted by Todd Bauer on May 12, 2015 at 2:04 PM

That's neat.

Registered on May 28, 2014, 50 Posts, 176 Comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on May 12, 2015 at 11:19 PM

Amazing capture, Ray, and very well done.  Detail is very good and the natural history interest really adds to this one.

devil

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments
Comment posted by Nate Chappell on May 13, 2015 at 6:48 PM

This has got to be a unique shot Ray, very cool.  I had to read your description to understand what was going on here, at first I thought the jay had done a maneuver in flight and was upside down.  It just didn't compute to me that it could be in the vulture's beak.  Great capture, nice bg too. devil

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments
Comment posted by Mike Ramy on June 2, 2015 at 10:37 PM

Great timing Ray,
laugh Man !

Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments