Where Do Turkeys Gather Before Thanksgiving?

Flooded Fairgrounds, Herons & Turkey Tails

The town fair has been cancelled due to flooding conditions during  some years. As you can see from this photo it makes parking  difficult and cotton candy soggy. Fortunately, the fair is not until October but it seems I'll have to wait for the water to recede before I can return to birding at my favorite local patch. 

 I made it down to the local heron rookery before flood waters hit.

 I'm guessing that the Great Blue Herons probably benefit from a little flood water.

Meanwhile, the town turkeys stayed on dry land so they could display their tail feathers without getting their feet wet. Did you know that turkeys can swim when they want to? 

Domestic Wild Turkeys & Wild Domestic Ducks?

We've had Wild Turkeys roaming around out backyard for a while. We don't  live in the woods or on a farm so watching the antics of the turkeys is a treat for us. As you can see, they aren't exactly shy.

I've watched them eating lavender, ornamental holly berries, dropped bird seed, and whatever they find  scratching through the fallen leaves I left behind. It seems that Wild Turkeys have adapted well to changing habitat. They find food in woods, fields, and aren't afraid to visit residential neighborhoods when the need arises.

  These are pet ducks which have taken the opposite approach from the turkeys. Instead of leaving the wild to visit someones backyard ,they left home and  swam downstream. I found them along a woodland trail eating some sort of algae from the bottom of the brook.

I find it interesting to watch birds adapt to areas  outside of their natural habitat. It doesn't matter to them whether they are domestic or wild. They just want to know where the food is!

 

Lonely Turkey & Tired Of Pink-footed Geese

  This Wild Turkey hen has been visiting our us for several months. It roosts in a large yew tree in our back yard at night. We see it every morning  eating seed beneath the birdfeeders. I've also seen it eat plants from last year's garden and berries from the holly bushes. We are amused when we see it run quickly across the open yard as if it were being chased.

 The strange thing about this bird is that I've never seen it with any other turkeys. I say strange because I'm used to seeing turkeys in groups numbering from about 10 to as many as 50 . This one has been solo  since November. I believe the mating season starts some time around March or April so I'm curious to see if she will be moving on soon.

I haven't been doing much birding recently but I did get one thing out of the way. There has been Pink-footed Goose reports by the dozen for months now. I finally got around to seeing one at a field in South Windsor. Several other birders were there and were kind enough to point it out to me. Can you see it out there in the field with the Canada Geese? It has a little scratch on its left foot. A picture was out of the question but I was glad to finally see one. Now I don't have to keep reading about Pink-footed Geese on the daily bird report trying to decide if I should go look for it.

Watch "My Life As A Turkey" On PBS Nature Program

  I watched a program on Saturday night title: "My Life as a turkey."
 Here's what it's about: A local farmer left some turkey eggs on Joe Hutto's porch. Joe who is a naturalist with an interest in imprinting young animals, incubated and hatched the eggs. He then spent the next 6 months following these turkeys everywhere. Joe followed them as they foraged through the back woods of Florida, and even joined them as the turkeys roosted in the trees. He learned a lot about turkey behavior, communication, and interaction of the birds with other animals such as deer. It was  amazing to see the bond that developed between Joe and these turkeys. It led to some touching moments as well as some sad moments. It's hard to explain what made this all so interesting. It is one of those shows that you have to see for yourself.

I don't believe you can watch this online but it is going to be rebroadcast on the PBS program,  Nature, several times between Sunday and Wednesday. You'll need to check your local PBS  for scheduled  air times. Here are the scheduled air times for Connecticut.