Quoth The Raven, "Nevermore".......

One morning back in November, I thought a squirrel might have fallen into our chimney. Well, I believe I've discovered what is actually happening when I hear those particular sounds. And it may be worse than a squirrel. It's more like something from some cheesy horror movie. What I believe I'm hearing are the flocks of VULTURES that have decided to congregate on our corner of the neighborhood. Here's some pictures I just took:




Here are two hovering on the shed my husband is building. They are, in a word, creepy. These things are huge, and they just sit on the roof like they are gargoyles or something. Their wingspan is large. The picture doesn't do them justice. I'm a little scared to let my 18 lb. mini schnauzer out in the yard when they congregate there. Though, after this morning when he woke R. up from her nap and just generally annoyed me all day, I'm sorely tempted to see what might become of him if they did show an interest in him.........


Here's two on my chimney. That's why it sounds like something is in there. The talons scratch the top and it echoes down inside. Lovely.


Here are some roosting on our next door neighbor's roof. You can't really see it in the picture, but they are all lined up along the crest of the roof.

The other morning, there were dozens of these huge, black gargoyles all over the yards in this area of the neighborhood. This is so not what we intended to invite to the yard when we filled the birdfeeder this winter. Why couldn't we just get nice little red cardinals? When they hulk on the roofs around here it looks like something from the movie, "The Birds" or an Edgar Allan Poe story. Just one more reason I love living here on "the island." NOT.