Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Oh Splendid Bird

Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)

It is that time of year, and these handsome fellows are all over the countryside in search of female companionship. They preen and strut and gobble; they admire themselves endlessly in melt pools, their noble heads flushed crimson and silvery blue. They display their iridescent plumage and fan shaped tails like peacocks, and their glossy bronze wing flashing is magnificent stuff indeed.

I've been trying to capture springtime photos of the birds for years with mixed success. Now, the turkey lads who live on the Two Hundred Acre Wood have accepted me as a neighbor, and I see them everywhere in April. I could almost have reached out and touched this one near the gate, and there would have been no problem.

7 comments:

Angie said...

WOW, those are FABULOUS photos!!

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

He is a beauty. I spot droves of the females and a male in my near by fields...

the wild magnolia said...

Turkey men are so handsome. So showy and macho. Your photos are spectacular!

Thank you for sharing!

Cindy said...

What a lovely boy.

Guy said...

A wonderful post. They are such impressive birds. Great photos.

Guy

Kim Antieau said...

Amazing! The wild turkeys I've seen were a lot skinnier than this--or maybe they were all female. This one is strutting some stuff! Beautiful as always.

Ontario Wanderer said...

Beautiful photo. I think there are too many turkey hunters around where we live. (I found blood and feathers once on our property although no one has ever asked permission to hunt on our property.) The last turkeys that I saw, a couple of weeks ago, were gone before I could get my camera out of my pocket.