THE TURKEY TROT

Dave and I have been lucky enough to have several new families join us on our property. Here is momma turkey and her little poults walking across the back wooded area of our yard. When we first saw her about 3 weeks ago it appeared that she had 12 babies. I have been trying to get her picture for days and finally had the opportunity this afternoon. I was pruning my rose tree when I heard her cluck, cluck, cluck. There she was when I looked up. Earlier I counted 5 poults. In these pictures I can only see 4. I noticed if you click on the pictures it will make them larger. They are not the best and have movement in them due to trying to get closeups while they were moving.She certainly is in a hurry when she sees us. We saw her twice today. She must have a routine with them as she teaches them to forage. She is usually headed East when we see her. I think she uses an alternate route when she heads the other way, as I have yet to see her going in any other direction but East.

I have read that a turkey's head will change color when it is startled or excited. Guess she was OK with me. I didn't see any color change.
A few days ago when they were all headed up the driveway and behind the barn I ran to get the camera. I went out along the side of the barn to see if I could find her. The grass is pretty thick back there. As I crouched down I noticed some movement. Wow ! It was a deer. What a neat gift to get that close. Every year we have a deer family here. Usually we see the doe and her two fawns. They are like little puppies. Haven't seen them since earlier in the Summer, though.
For a number of years we have had goshawks that return here to nest. There have been Red Tails here over the years, too. (Part of the reason for the Two Hawks name.) The Goshawks nest up back in our pines. You can tell when the young are learning to fly. They do a lot of crying for the first few weeks. Generally, there are 2 young ones. They help to keep the squirrel population down. The red squirrels that live here think that they own the place. They chatter at everything and everybody. There have been times that we have been standing in the driveway talking to people and the little snots have actually thrown green pine cones at us. No joke !
Another nuisance are the Japanese Beetles. They are after my rose tree. That is what I was up to when the hen and her poults strolled by.

And I am still not sure what happened to my blueberries. Something or somebody ate every last one.


Hope you are enjoying the Summer.
Joyfully,
Lee