we saw the turkey vulture from the west window. just as i stepped onto the fire escape they flew over my head and over the roof. i put the long lens on. maybe the regular lens would have been better. but it's the feeling that matters. this bird is something of a spirit bird for me since college in southern illinois when i lay on the edge of the chasm in the shawnee forest watching them hover on thermals just near me, i think creating the sensation of floating out of my body to rest on thermals among them.