{201 Countries Visited - Welcome Saint Barthelemy}

Already on December 9, the 201th Country Visited my humble blog - Welcome to Saint Barthelemy!

This tiny island in the Caribbean, was discovered in 1493 by Christopher COLUMBUS who named it for his brother Bartolomeo, Saint Barthelemy was first settled by the French in 1648. In 1784, the French sold the island to Sweden. France repurchased the island in 1877...

{Happy & Healthy New Year 2015}

Wishing you all, the world over, a Happy & Healthy New Year 2015!

Be it Champagne or in our case, an Italian Prosecco, Champagne's sexy Italian cousin; CHEERS to Good Health and Happiness!

For all my Greek readers:  Ευτυχισμένος ο Νέος Χρόνος! Happy New Year! ←click it for learning from Marie-Anne, more about the Greek day for Gift Giving on Saint Basil's Day on January 1, like Saint Nicholas on December 6, or Santa Claus on December 25.

{Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) & Brave Furbabies}

We went to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and the weather was perfect after 5 days of heavy rain. So glad that we completed early this year all the Water Control Projects; what a blessing for never having to worry again! 

Christmas day was so LOVELY and SUNNY that we went for a walk!

Coming back we spotted about NINE Turkey Vultures, up in tall trees near the creek across from our property. So I investigated and found an entire RACK OF RIBS alongside the road across from our home. Did the neighbors drop it from their shopping bag? But it was naked...

So those huge Turkey Vultures were having a yummy Christmas Dinner!

So quickly Pieter grabbed our Nikon camera and attached the 200 mm lens to capture these images for you...

Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura)

Size: Length: 64 - 81 cm according to the website's link above (just click it).

Or for US standard: 2 1/2 feet length with a 6 foot wingspan or 1.83 m!
Mockingly they are also called here: CONFEDERATE CONDOR!

Photos are heavily cropped and Pieter zoomed in from our driveway, without tripod...

How in the world could an entire rack of ribs end up alongside the road?

This Turkey Vulture LOVES it!

Our Furbaby, Spunky-girl is being brave...
All her hair upright and a very bushy tail! All her hair spiked up to look BIGGER!
 Looking at me like asking: Mom do I have your back?!
Sure you do Spunky-girl!

Okay Mami; I will attack!

She scared me, as I feared for her getting pecked at by those long and sharp beaks!

Her tiny sister, our 6-pound Tiggy-Tiger is all 'bushy-tailed' with hair spiked out and ready to join Spunky!

Look at Tiggy-Tiger as she too tries hard to look impressive with all her hair up; doubling her size...

That upright bushy tail!
Good for not having ANY traffic on Christmas Day in the afternoon...

Our cat-boy Spooky joins in now!
He too walks across the street towards those Turkey Vultures...

Watch him act BRAVE! With his arched back...
Both of us never have seen Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) from that close!

They stayed high up in the trees near the creek's edge of our neighbor's property.

Waiting for their turn to dive...

Impossible to capture all nine of them by zooming in from across the road.
But this was quite a Christmas Adventure!
I've learned that our Furbabies understood far better than their human parents that these mighty birds ONLY attack carion and not live animals.
I thought they acted very BRAVE!

That was our unusual Christmas afternoon adventure with the Furbabies after we got home from a walk...

Next morning, the entire rack of ribs was gone!

We did not let our Furbabies eat from the greasy meat and luckily they stayed inside with us.

December 25, 2014 Our Brave Cat–Boy Spooky Chasing Off Turkey Vultures ←click short video