I have been starting to see images of turkeys everywhere, but mostly they are cartoon-like figures in advertisements for Thanksgiving, which is only a month away. Last week I encountered a small flock of actual Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) while I was walking along one of the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I have seen turkeys at multiple locations within the refuge and suspect that there are a number of resident flocks there.
The turkeys slowly moved into the underbrush as soon as they became aware of my presence, but I did manage to capture a few shots of one of them. I especially like the pattern of light and shadows in the background of the first image that was caused by the sunlight filtering through the trees. I took these shots during the middle of the day and the sunlight was relatively harsh in open areas, as you can see in the second image. It is a fun challenge to balance the light to get a decent exposure in situations like this when the lighting is so mixed.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Photographing their feather detail is particularly hard in mottled light, but you managed it 👍👍.
Thanks, Ted. As you know well, getting decent shots is often a combination of good fortune and good technique. 🙂
Great shots! I’ve been trying to capture wild turkeys for two years now. They are such nervous birds! Every time I get near they are gone!
Thanks. I am fortunate to stumble upon wild turkeys fairly regularly. They do seem to be pretty nervous, but often take their time in fading into the underbrush, especially if they see me coming from a distance. On one occasion, though, I really startled one and it actually flew into a tree, the only time I have seen a wild turkey fly.
Lovely shots. I like seeing the detail of the feathers. Have I ever told you that my Dad has a lifelong phobia of turkeys?
Thanks, Laura. It was cool to be able to capture so many of the details of the turkey’s feathers. Phobia of turkeys? I don’t think that you had mentioned that your Dad had that phobia, but I can definitely sympathize with that–there may be no rational basis for a phobia, but that does not make those fears any less real.
As a toddler during WW2, my Dad and his brothers were evacuated out of the city to live with a farmer. The farmer had one leg, lost in the trenches of WW1, and also a massive who he decided not to kill because it also had one leg. So this turkey apparently thought it was the king of the farm and used to terrorize my toddler Dad. He only has to hear the sound of a turkey and it makes him judder.
Yikes. I know of friends who are terrified of dogs because of childhood trauma, so it is not hard to imagine a turkey terrorizing a toddler. Thanks for sharing the explanation, Laura.
Nice Mike! Great Turkey image & great feather detail!
Nice shots catching their iridescent feathers, Mike. They are rather magnificent birds.
Thanks, Eliza. So often the turkeys have their heads down or are in the shadows, so I was pretty happy when I managed to capture the details of their feathers in these shots.