When we lived in California, turkey vultures were very, very common. They're easily distinguished when soaring due to the characteristic "tipping" flight and shallow V-shape position of their wings. (Most raptors have a flat profile when soaring.)
For whatever reason, turkey vultures are a lot less common (and therefore more noticeable) here in Idaho.
So it was with some surprise the other day when we saw a pair of vultures land on a couple of nearby telephone poles, one to each pole. It's actually not that often you see these birds when they're not soaring.
Even more interesting, both birds promptly adopted a horaltic (spread-winged) posture, which they do to warm up.
A magpie kinda half-heartedly tried to harass one of the vultures, but the carrion-eater wasn't overly intimidated. (Vultures aren't a big threat to nestlings of other species.)
After a while, the second vulture joined the first one on the same pole.
Then they both flew off, and that was that.
I like having vultures around. They perform an essential service.