The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream, visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on Follow.
My Darling Spouse and I pride ourselves on our critter-friendly acre of suburbia. We maintain three bird-feeding stations, multiple bird houses, a small pond and one little bird bath on our plot of land. Many of my old garden beds have reverted to weeds and vines, providing lots of small animal habitat and it is not uncommon for us to receive wild visitors, mostly of the bunny and squirrel varieties.
Lately, however, we have been visited by much larger than average wanderers. A squad of turkeys has claimed our backyard as their personal pavilion and promenade. Two males and two females so far, but we expect a passel of pullets in the next few months. The females have been rather shy and stay in the tall grass, only giving us the occasional glimpse of their heads or backs as they wander in search of bugs and stray sunflower seeds.
The males, on the other hand, have been downright sociable, coming right up to the house and grubbling directly under the bird feeders for seeds and peanuts. One even uses the sidewalk as a place to parade his magnificence in front of the females (who don’t really seem to be paying attention, in my opinion.) Of course, he chose to do that after my camera battery died.
I have to say that a tom turkey in full regalia is a spectacular looking bird. Look at those feet, though — you can see their relationship to dinosaurs!
They are cautious but easy-going birds. We sit out by the pond most evenings now that the weather is nice and they’re not bothered by us one bit. One of the males will come within 20 feet of us and not ruffle a feather. The only thing that does spook them is Gracie the Wonder Pug. She would dearly love to run outside and play with them and goes absolutely ape-shit when we won’t let her — spinning in circles and barking her fool head off. Her wild barking sounds like a champion yodeler being killed with a blunt butter knife. The turks head for the trees once she starts that crap and I can’t say as I blame them a bit!
So enjoy these pics of our current visitors and tell us your turkey stories in the comments!
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