Mrs. T is back and she has a family!
Yesterday it was so humid the windows were covered in fog and dew when I woke up. I like to survey the backyard in the morning and I couldn’t see anything through those windows, so I stepped into our screen porch to get a better look. That’s when I saw this:
I ran to get my camera as the little family traipsed through the yard, but my lens steamed up in the humidity as well. There were at least four poults and possibly a fifth but they were wandering all over the yard and because my flowers are so tall and unruly this year it was hard to do an accurate turkey count. The babies peeped softly as they scooted along:
I also couldn’t tell from my foggy photographs whether one of the adults was a tom turkey, or if two females were caring for the poults. One of them kept hopping up on the raised bed pavers to glower at me. I kept my distance. Eventually they lost interest in my yard and moved on.
I got excited when they returned during the hottest part of the afternoon. There are definitely five youngsters, but I’m still not certain about the sex of the adults–one is definitely a female but the other one has me confused. They paraded through the backyard pecking and poking and then settled in the shade under an oak tree. One of the adults started scratching in the soil until it made a deep divot. Then it puffed out its feathers and took a dust bath. Soon the youngsters joined in. Dust and feathers flew everywhere.
Then, even though it was hotter than blazes outside, the little ones scooted under one adult while the other adult stood guard:
The babies make funny noises. They remind me of Gizmo from the movie Gremlins. They warble and coo. The group lounged in and around the shade for almost an hour. Their little sounds mesmerized me.
The adults stayed put but the youngsters meandered through the flowerbeds and ventured back and forth from the sunny part of our lawn. I hope they found some Japanese beetles to snack on.
Eventually my neighbor came outside and startled them. They paraded through the backyard to our other lot line. Unfortunately I have no good windows on that side of the house, so I missed snapping a photo of all the babies jumping into the birdbath. I laughed out loud.
After everyone had a splash and a long drink, they waddled into another yard and disappeared.
1 comment
What a wonderful surprise for you!
You took some really “cute” pictures of the babies. Too bad the neighbor scared them off. But maybe they’ll be back again. Their nest must be somewhere close to your yard, don’t you think? Thanks for sharing!!
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