Our Vermont Turkeys

Meleagris gallopavo

The word went through the house quickly. Turkeys! In the back field! I hadn't seen any turkeys here for awhile, so this was exciting news. They were big! Huge! We didn't know if it was turkey season on October 15 (it may have been turkey bow season but we don't have bows), so we had to let them pass on by. I haven't seen toms this big in, well, forever! This was a big, healthy flock. There are signs of them all over in the woods above. Perhaps the apple orchard we are putting in this spring will encourage them to stay down here in the trees next year.

See you next year, boys!

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Turkey Families

Everywhere we go now, there are family groups of turkeys running around. Groups of mothers with the chicks are out and about. I've been taking photos while I drive, through the windshield, as I ride my bike . . . they are everywhere. But yesterday this group of two moms and about seven chicks was in our fields eating grasshoppers all afternoon. I finally got some decent (but not great photos). The chicks are about the size of chickens now. But I did see one mom after church and her chick was a tiny newborn.

The mom makes a constant, soft noise so that the chicks can know where she is and follow. It is a beautiful sound. The chicks chirp behind her all the way. One day, I accidentally prevented a chick from following its mother across the road and its distress cry was upsetting. I had stopped in the road and the chick wouldn't cross the road with me there until I backed up the car. Then it raced across and happily joined the family.

Wild Turkey Set

Technorati Tags: Meleagris gallopavo, wild turkeys
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Camera Critters: A Turkey

As I was driving down to Glover on Saturday, this turkey was taking her sweet time getting across the road.  I don't see many turkeys up close so I don't know if she is healthy, molting, or doing just fine. She doesn't look robust to me, though. 

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My other Camera Critters post is a white-tailed deer.

Technorati Tags: Meleagris gallopavo, wild turkey
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Photo Hunters: A Twist On Turkeys

Here is a new twist to my previous turkey photos (see also here): a displaying male. I saw these three turkeys in a field on Chamberlin Road in Barton on Friday afternoon. I have never before seen, let alone photograph, a male displaying his plummage. Click here for information on wild turkeys and to listen to their sounds.

I had to use a full 10x zoom in order to photograph these birds.

Another twist: I have never seen such
red heads on any wild turkeys before.

Here you see the birds meandering into the woods.
These turkeys survived the winter in great condition.

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Technorati Tags: Meleagris gallopavo, wild turkey
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