It was a cold rainy afternoon on Saturday. Hubby and I had been sitting watching TV when he went to get something out of the kitchen. On his return he looked out the sunroom window and saw a rafter of turkeys. Of course I headed for my camera. We usually see them during breeding time and up into fall but it had been a few months since any had crossed our wooded backyard.The one lone turkey above found its way outside my window where he snacked on the fallen birdseed from the feeder.
Monday afternoon they returned. I was pretty excited because the day was sunny and it made for a better opportunity to try to capture them as I was again shooting through the window. In this photo you can count seventeen and another eight at least were to the right that I couldn't get in the photo. I have never seen this many at one time in the four and a half years we have lived here. Did you notice the one odd one to the left by the bush?
Here is a better closeup. I've never seen one this color in the wild. She looks more like a domestic turkey. There were two colored as such and both were here Saturday and Monday. My afternoons will now be spent watching and waiting to see if they return.
(be sure to click to enlarge for best detail)
Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday.
34 comments:
I don't believe I knew that "rafter" was used to describe turkeys! We have wild turkeys here, too....they were introduced several years ago and have thrived. Often, they visit town. ;-) The "odd" one is a beautiful color; it definitely seems to be a different species.
We have herds (that's what I call it) of turkey around where I live but have never seen one colored as that one. What a find.
Gobble, gobble! That's a LOT of turkeys! I would have been excited, too, to see so many!
She is an interesting colour!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
I have never seen a turkey that color, but we were talking to a guy at one of the festivals here and he had seen one. I had never even heard of it...I hope I remember to show this to Roger.
Wonderful birds we don't have running wild in the UK Carletta... mores the pity.
Your images are so lovely to see..
Very nice photos.
Regards and best wishes
Great to see that many turkeys in your yard and to get good photos too.
I've seen lots of turkeys and I've never seen one that color. That's a cool looking bird! It almost looks like it's been spray painted.
Good God! Wouldn't Charles Dickens' little Oliver Twist be excited? "Food Glorious Food etc."
One can only assume that the turkeys are protected, but you do have, I think, a time in the year when the "turkey shoots" happen???
We have bush turkeys here in some of the suburbs with plenty of rain forest trees and creeks. They are absolute pests and wreckers, but they do look great for people who don't have to live with them all the time - ha ha. They can reduce a lovely attended vegie garden or flower bed to a mess heap in seconds! Diane has them in her area. I have had the odd one here in my area, God only knows how they got here as I live close to the CBD of Brisbane.
Very interesting post, Carletta.
Cheers
Colin (HB)
what a great sighting! the flock alone would be thrilling to me, but the odd one out is great!
All the turkeys around here are brown. I do enjoy it when they come to visit.
how fun to have them come visit like that.
How cool to have so many!!
Hi Carletta, what a cool sighting. I would have been very excited to see the turkeys in my yard. The last one is really cute. Wonderful photos, thanks for sharing!
the true turkey story... she jumped the fence and trotted with Tom and the wild boys. She swore never to go back to civilization where you can be caged and dinners are planned around your carcass.
Beautiful shots of you corner of Paradise.
A lot of great visitors to your yard.
Lovely to see so many.
now that's really interesting; I must try and remember "a rafter of turkeys"
I don't think I've seen this many turkeys at one time. I've also never seen a turkey the color of the hen you pictured. I predict you'll be spending many hours at your window in the days ahead.
Wonderful observations! Turkeys are doing well in your neck of the woods.
;-)WBW!
The white and black one is beautiful. I have never saw a rafter of turkey, but I did see 1 wild turkey walking along the edge of I-24 this weekend, while returning home from Nashville.
Like you, I too would be waiting at the window for them to return. :)
Wow, Carletta... That is awesome. We have wild turkeys around here --but they never come close to our home... (At least, I have never seen them near here.)
The little 'odd ball' is pretty... Wonder if he/she feels special??????
Hugs,
Betsy
Betsy!
If the US wild turkeys are anything like the Aussie lot, you are blessed, that they don't invade your beatiful gardens.
I dread to think what your roses etc would look like - ha ha!
Colin (HB)
A "rafter" of turkeys. I must remember that word. How exciting for a blogger to see something like this in your back yard. i like the look in the eye of the first turkey pic.
Gorgeous!! I as a Hunter-Never wanted to hunt Turkeys! That coloration I have never seen!
Great Great Post!!!
John
Great shots, but love that last one... what a beauty! =)
cool experience! We don´t have wild ones in Sweden. When I was a child my grandparents had a few and I was scared of them.
Cool post! That's a lot of turkeys to see at one time! We have seen them around here but no more than 5 or 6 together. It's always exciting to see animals in the wild- lol- especially when they come right up to your own back yard.
Oh my gosh -- "your" flock (or rafter) is growing! I wouldn't have even have recognized the silver-gray one if it hadn't been with the rest of them.
Oh wow, that's a lot of turkeys. It's been years since I seen that many at one time. Here we see one once in awhile. The white one is unusual, maybe a genetic variation?
Just now remembered to show Roger this cause we were watching a turkey hunting show...he said to tell you Gobble, Gobble and that his turkey hunting shotgun just fell off the wall!
What a lovely bunch of visitors to your yard! Great captures.
Wow! That last turkey really IS different! I wonder if she's a hybrid.
Great shots of all the Wild Turkeys Carletta! I'm thinking that the last bird might be an example of leucism, a condition where the pigmentation cells in the bird (or other animal) fail to develop properly.
My iBird explorer app gives lists of collective nouns for birds and gives the turkey, "crop" "raffle" "dole" "gang" and "posse". I kinda like a "posse" of Wild Turkeys!
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