Wednesday 8 January 2014

Wild Turkey Chase

I in the woods in winter trying to straddle a snow-covered mound that I hope is a rock...I'd glanced out at the front bird feeder and there was a group of wild turkeys standing around as if they had called a turkey meeting or something.  It was a bit of a shock to see such huge birds in the place of my usual tiny bird friends, the chickadees and juncos. I scrambled to get my coat, mitts, boots, camera and rush out the door to get a photo.  This is the closest to wild turkeys I have ever been.  I round the corner of the house and they immediately take off for the woods, their feet acting like snowshoes as they hightail it across the snow.  I follow but can't keep up as my feet are not acting like snowshoes and I sink to my shins with every step. I am determined to get a photo though and trail my little flock into the woods.  They are always just a little ahead of me, completely silent and moving in single file led by this fellow.
He is much larger than the others and his feathers are raven black.  I'm guessing he is a male.  While I watch from my mound, they disappear completely in a dip in the woods.  I'm still watching when first one, then the others, lift on great wings and fly deeper into the forest away from me. 
Most of the photos I took were blurred, probably because operating the camera in mitts was not easy. Back in the house with wet socks and now damp to my knees with clammy cold ...and like I said before, clammy cold is the worst  cold. 


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