More turkeys in the yard

I haven't blogged much lately -- I think it's mostly been from a bit of "blog fatigue". (Hopefully, that's not just a rationalization for laziness.)

I suppose part of it too may be due to the fact that it is summer, and we're finally having some stretches of good weather after all of the rain in the spring.

Anyway, at the risk of inducing "turkey fatigue" in the readers of this blog, I have to share at least one photo from yesterday. When I came home, I spotted our flock of turkeys nonchalantly strolling past the front of our house, and I managed to quickly roll down the window of my vehicle and get my camera out in time to capture some images. This was my favorite.

I kind of like the fact that this group of birds feels comfortable enough in our yard to make it part of their weekly perambulations. -- PL

Turkeys in the yard

Not quite as dramatic as a moose, but still…

Yesterday, I was relaxing in the hammock on our back porch, reading a book, when Jeannine alerted me to the presence of some creatures crossing our lawn.

TURKEYS!!!

Unfortunately, I did not have my good camera handy, so I was only able to get a few shots with my pocket camera, and those were through the screened porch windows.

Nonetheless, you can still see that not only are there two adult birds, but either six or seven young ones with them. I'd never seen a "family flock" like this before.

They crossed the yard in silence and then were gone into the woods. -- PL

Meleagris gallopavo

I took this photo through our kitchen window shortly after eating breakfast a few weeks ago. Our dog Parker had been barking and huffing and jumping onto and off of the window seat right behind where I sit in the mornings, and after a few minutes of this annoying behavior, I got up to see what he was so exercised about. (Usually, it's boring -- typically just a squirrel trespassing on our lawn.)

But that day it turned out to be a group of a dozen or more wild turkeys -- might it be called a "flock"? -- who'd walked, in their stately, semi-dinosaurian way out of the woods and across our driveway.



I see a lot of these birds in our area, and I've always liked the way they look. The dark sheen of their plumage can give them an almost reptilian aspect, and sometimes they do remind me of miniature T-Rex's in the way they stalk through the underbrush.

And they do fly, as well -- I remember a few years back riding my motorcycle on back roads up near Rowe, MA, and one of these large birds exploded out of the woods on the right side of the road and almost collided with me. It's kind of scary when something with that large a wing span is suddenly heading right at you. Fortunately, that turkey was able to "grab air" quickly and soared over me and the Gold Wing.

One of these days I hope to see a group of wild turkeys when I've got my camera ready and I can get some nice closeup shots with the zoom lens. Until then, I'll have to be satisfied with this one, which is probably the best turkey shot -- or is that shoot? -- of mine to date. -- PL