Blessed with a feathered visitor

[StretchL]

Here in the mountains we have eagles (mostly golden eagles), ravens-one of my favorites, and vultures. But I think the most striking bird is the wild turkey. You never see them flying. They love to walk around in flocks. They have a very distintive walk-kind of like Groucho Marx walking with his hands behind his back. Turkeys are very wary, and I have never had a camera ready when I have seen them.

I've seen a few flying here in Virginia, Dennis. Right at dusk, from one tree to another, looking for a place to roost (the birds, not me)... They're not the most elegant of aviators.

Trivia- Did all of you know that Benjamin Franklin favoured the Wild Turkey as America's national bird? Here, in a letter to his daughter, he shared his opinion on both the Bald Eagle and the Wild Turkey:

"For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

"With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District...

"For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America . . . He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on."

 

[Mary]

Regarding turkey sightings . . . the funniest/oddest one I ever saw happened this past Thanksgiving.
We were visiting St. Louis, and as we sped East, on Interstate 40, we saw a wild turkey standing in the median between the merge lane and the four lanes of traffic. He looked shocked beyond belief, but probably not as shocked as the hundreds of car occupants who were racing past!

 

[swim mom]

My parents live in the middle of nowhere east of Portland OR and they have always had problems with coyotes. When we lived in Virginia Beach, VA we were watching a mother duck and ducklings when she seemed agitatedand scooped most of them under her wings. Instantly a hawk flew off with one of the ones she didn't protect. That was 7 years ago and my girls still talk about it. It was a sad but amazing act of nature.

 

[Dennis S]

Turkey flight.

Turkey flight.

Stretch: You are exactly right, and I should have spoken more carefully about the wild turkey. I have seen them fly, usually right after they realize I am watching them. In my experience, turkeys fly like men swim.

 

[Susan BAV]

Where my mother lives, the turkeys are TURKEYDACTYLS! They are enormous! I put my hand down in a snow print of one once and the feet were bigger than the span of my hand (which is about an octave)!

And, did anyone see the news out of Alaska about the eagle that got caught in the power lines trying to fly off with part of a deer?!? His eyes were bigger than his wings, poor thing... his demise caused a power outage.

The owls around here carry off cats.

And a couple of years ago there was a large roadrunner in our backyard -- there are a lot of them around this area but we don't usually see them near our house -- and I noticed that there weren't any other birds in the feeders as there usually would have been. Then I saw in one of my bird books that roadrunners EAT SMALLER BIRDS! No birdbrains in my backyard!

The redtail hawks rob the local crow/raven nests and I believe that what's good for the hawk is good for the raven also. Cannibirds!

I love birds!