Vultures in Bowles Gully

I was over at the top of the Beaver Valley ski hills the other day; skiing was over, and the crews were starting to clean up for the season.  Standing at the top of Bowles Gully (home of the Avalanche ski run), I enjoyed the late winter view - only a little snow left other than on the ski runs themselves.

 

 
Then the vultures soared by far beneath me.   Silhouetted against the snow, three of them drifted back and forth, out of sight around the corner and then they'd reappear, drifting back into the steep hill.  They seemed to be sailing right into the hill itself.

 It wasn't a very warm day, and I don't think they were catching many updrafts; they were trapped in the deep, steep-sided valley, though for all I know they were enjoying themselves in the sun.  I zoomed in to try and catch a closer picture.

And there they were, three of them, sitting on the railing of the small observation deck half-way down the hill.  Dwarfed by the big new yellow snow-gun (it uses water more efficiently in making snow), they just sat on the railing in the sun. Look closely and you can see two of them in the centre of the picture.

I went back another day to try and get a better picture.  It was warmer, and this time there were obviously good updrafts. I got the first shot above, this time looking up at a vulture circling in the air over the valley in front of me.