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Posts Tagged ‘turkey’

Wild Turkey in October

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Thanksgiving, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 7, 2024| 4 Comments »

At this time of the year holiday preparations become intertwined at retail stores. I have already seen lots of displays for Halloween and suspect that I will see Christmas decorations for sale as well if I look a little harder. Indigenous Peoples Day and Thanksgiving Day are also part of this autumn blitz.

So I guess that it is not that surprising that I immediately thought of Thanksgiving Day when I spotted this Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Turkeys are part of the lore of Thanksgiving and play a central role in the traditional feast, though commercial turkeys no longer bear much resemblance to their wild counterparts.

There are several flocks of wild turkeys at this wildlife refuge and I often encounter them foraging along the trails. When they see me, they usually move slowly into the undergrowth—I suspect that they have grown accustomed to the presence of humans, but do not want to interact with them most of the time. Strangely enough, that’s the same attitude that I display when I am out in the wild with my camera.

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Turkey Close-up Portrait

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on February 29, 2024| 7 Comments »

As I was walking along a trail on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I happened to glance to my left  and was shocked to see that I was almost face-to-face with a Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). This turkey, along with several of his friends, was foraging in the underbrush and apparently had not heard me approaching. I immediately stopped in my tracks, fearful of scaring the turkeys away and contemplate my next steps.

Should I try to move into another position for a better shot? Should I zoom out and try capture the turkey’s entire body that was mostly hidden in the vegetation? The clock was ticking and I knew that the turkeys would soon sense my presence.

I had a pretty clear view of the turkey’s head from where I was standing, so I decided to go for a portrait close-up portrait shot. I carefully focused on the turkey’s eye and was happy to be able to capture quite a bit of detail in a profile shot when the turkey turned his head to the side.

In a funny way I felt almost like I was looking a mirror, because the turkey had a lot of wrinkles and hairs sprouting out of various parts of his head, features that have become increasingly noticeable for me as I have gotten older. When I was younger, I don’t think I realized how much hair would eventually be growing out of my nose and ears.

After I had grabbed a few shots, I move on quietly down the trail and the turkeys continued their foraging .

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Turkey trot

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , on January 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Most of the time when I see Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, they are in small groups, but when I spotted this one last Friday it was alone. Initially the turkey was slowly strolling down the trail ahead of me on which I was walking. Somehow, though, it sensed my presence and picked up its pace until it seemed to be trotting.

I captured this image mid-stride, as the turkey seemed to be looking over its shoulder to see if I was still there. The photo is relatively sharp, though if you look at the turkey’s right foot, you can see a bit of motion blur, which enhances the sense of movement.

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Foraging turkeys

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 1, 2023| 3 Comments »

As I was leaving Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge on Friday, I spotted this small band of Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) foraging on the side of a small hill. I captured this image while I was seated in the driver’s seat of my car. I was stopped with my blinkers on and fortunately there was no other traffic. I like the way that the turkeys had spaced themselves out in a military-style patrolling formation.

Wild Turkeys

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Wild turkeys in the brush

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 21, 2023| 1 Comment »

On Monday I spotted these two Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge as they climbed a small hill through some tall grass. They kept disappearing from view, but occasionally their heads would pop up and I was able to capture a few shots of them.

The bodies of the turkeys are partially hidden by the vegetation, but I really like the way that I was able to capture a sense of the habitat in which I saw the turkeys. Normally I spot turkeys in the open on the trails at this wildlife refuge, so it was cool to see them traveling “off-road.”

Wild Turkeys

Wild Turkeys

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wild Turkey Wingspan

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »

As I was observing some Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) last Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, one of them suddenly decided to stretch a bit and flapped his wings. In the past I have seen a turkey extend its wings like this only when running away from me. In this case, though, the turkey went back to pecking on the ground and either was not aware of my presence or was simply not bothered by it.

Perhaps he was just trying to cool off on what was a really hot, humid day.

Wild Turkey

 

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Turkey and bunny

Posted in animals, Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2023| 4 Comments »

Although it is fun to try to photograph migratory species passing through our area, I am equally content to photograph the local species that are present throughout the year, like Wild Turkeys and Eastern Cottontail Rabbits. This rather rotund Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) seemed to be dancing the hokey-pokey when I spotted it last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. “You put your right leg in, you put your right leg out. You put your right leg in and you shake it all about…” For the record, I did not join in the dance.

Later that same day I encountered this cute little Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus). The rabbit was quite tolerant on my presence and calmly chewed on the grass while I took its picture. For several years I cared for a pet rabbit, so rabbits have a special place in my heart.

Turkeys and rabbits are quite common at this refuge and at certain times of the day I am likely to encounter them. Generally they slowly move into the undergrowth as I approach. I don’t think they necessarily view me as a threat, but they probably do not want to take chances.

Wild Turkey

Eastern Cottontail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wading Wild Turkey

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , on February 25, 2023| 8 Comments »

On Thursday I was thrilled to capture this shot of a Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) as he waded across one of the small streams at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Out of the corner of my eye I had caught a glimpse of the another Wild Turkey that had opted to fly over the stream a moment earlier, so I was prepared when this turkey emerged from the woods and slowly made its way across the stream.

During his crossing, the turkey flapped his wings from time to maintain his balance and to generate a bit of extra momentum, I suspect. In the image below, the turkey had almost reached the far bank of the stream. I like the sense of movement in the shot that is heightened by the open wings, the forward lean of the body, and the “beard” hanging away from the body.

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Post-Christmas Wild Turkey

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , on December 29, 2022| 6 Comments »

Late on Monday afternoon I spotted this large male Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge as he was foraging in the leaf litter. The turkey was very focused on scratching about in the fallen leaves and let me get so close to him that I was able to take this shot at 250mm on my zoom lens that extends to 600mm.

The light was already starting to fade—the sun set at 4:53 pm that day—and I know that my relatively old DSLR does not handle low light very well, so I did not want to raise the ISO beyond ISO 800, for fear of introducing an unacceptable amount of graininess. Instead, I captured this image with an exposure of 1/40 second, a really slow shutter speed. Even though I was using a monopod for stability, many of my shots were blurry, but this particular image ended up pretty sharp.

I love the way that I was able to capture so many details of the turkey’s feathers. From a distance, the main feathers look to be a solid dark color, but up-close, they show a lot of color variation and patterns. I was happy too that I was able to get a good view of the turkey’s “beard.” I’ve read that you can estimate the age of a turkey on the basis of the length of its beard, but I am not confident that I could figure that out—all I can say is that the turkey appeared to be a mature male to me.

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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Wild Turkey in autumn

Posted in Autumn, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 24, 2021| 11 Comments »

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.

Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wild Turkeys in September

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 15, 2021| 9 Comments »

How do you tell the age of a Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)? Strangely enough, that was the first question that came into my mind when I encountered a small group of Wild Turkeys on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Many of the turkeys that I have spotted at this refuge over the year have been considerably larger than the members of this group that seemed mostly young to me.

I went searching on-line for an answer to my question. Most of the information that I could find seemed to be designed for hunters, who could measure the length of the spurs and the beard and carefully check the patterns of the feathers after they had “harvested” the bird.

I was more interested in trying to capture the distinctive way in which these turkeys were strutting as they moved slowly toward the underbrush after they had detected my presence. It is probably my imagination, but the open mouths of the the two turkeys in the second photo makes me think that they were carrying on a conversation as they were walking.

The beautiful shades of brown and the different patterns of the feathers of a wild turkey never fail to impress me. The warm coloration of these beautiful birds reminds me that autumn, which starts next week for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, will soon be upon us.

As I was verifying the date for the Autumnal Equinox for this year on the Old Farmer’s Almanac website, I came across this Irish proverb that seemed appropriate, “Autumn days come quickly, like the running of a hound on the moor.”

Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wild Turkeys in April

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Although it has been almost a week since I last posted an image of a bird, let me reassure you that I have not given up on them. At this time of the year, however, my attention is divided and I am just as likely to be hunting for tiny subjects with my macro lens as I am to be scanning the increasing leafy trees through my long telephoto zoom lens. When I start walking (and I do a lot of walking), I have to decide which lens I will initially put on my camera and that will largely dictate where I will look for subjects.

On Thursday, I went back to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge to look for birds and was delighted to spot a small flock of Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). Sometimes the turkeys that I see appear relatively small, but some of the members of this flock seemed enormous, like the one in the first photo. The turkeys were picking about at the edge of the trail on which I was walking and slowly made their way into the undergrowth as I approached. The motion was fast enough, though, that one of the turkey’s legs is blurred in the second photo.

I am hoping to be able to capture some images of springtime warblers and of baby eaglets, but the transition has already begun from mostly telephoto shots to mostly macro shots—it is part of my seasonal transition.

wild tukey

wild turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Turkeys in December

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on December 14, 2020| 7 Comments »

If I wander the trails of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge for a long enough period of time, I am quite likely to encounter some Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). I have seen them in almost all parts of the refuge and suspect that there are several flocks that reside there.

Last Monday I encountered a small flock that appeared to include a half-dozen or so turkeys. They were scratching about at the edge of one of the trails and did not seem to notice me as I slowly made my way forward. All of the sudden, one of the turkeys flapped its wings a little as if to sound an alarm, as you can see in the second image below. All of the turkeys started to move and slowly disappeared into the underbrush. I was thrilled to capture the first image as they were striding away.

Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Re-blog: How old is my turkey?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , on March 22, 2020| 2 Comments »

I am more of a liberal arts guy than a scientist, so the details of bird identification often escape me. Sue of the Back Yard Biology blog, on the other hand, is a self-avowed “geeky science nerd.” She decided to do some work to find out how to tell the age of a wild turkey. I suspect that many of you will find her posting as fascinating as I did, so be sure to click on the View Original Post in order to see her entire posting.

Be sure also to check out other postings on her wonderful blog. Sue is one of my most faithful followers and was one of the first to comment on my earliest postings more than seven years ago.

Sue's avatarBack Yard Biology

It’s that time again, when tom Turkeys begin to strut their stuff in the backyard.  The other day, a FB friend/fellow wildlife photographer posted a shot of a tom turkey (https://michaelqpowell.com/2020/03/22/panic-or-calm/) that looked quite a bit different than the one I have been seeing in my backyard.  I thought it looked younger, but I wondered how one can tell the age of male wild Turkey.  So, I googled that thought, and it turns out it’s not a hard thing to do (assuming you can judge lengths somewhat accurately).

The key things to look for are the length of the beard (the hair-like structures — which are modified feathers) hanging down from its breast), the color of the tip of the beard, and the length of the spurs on the back of the lower-most part of its leg next to the foot (the tarsometatarsus to be exact).

It’s still early in…

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Panic or calm?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2020| 7 Comments »

Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) reacted in different ways yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge when they detected my presence. One turkey seemed to panic, put down its head, and sprinted to the other side, while the other calmly strode across the trail. Both reached the other side safely. Was this the turkey version of social distancing?

How do you react in the face of a perceived threat? These days, this question is not merely an academic one—it is part of our daily lives. I think we all experience moments of panic, but we can choose not to let those feelings overwhelm us. Stay safe and healthy within the limits imposed on you by the current crisis and be sure to take care of yourselves.

Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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Turkey in the woods

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on January 22, 2020| 11 Comments »

Most of the times when I see Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, they are foraging in the open along one of the trails. As I approach, they usually disappear deep into the vegetation.

At this time of the year, though, I can see a lot farther into the woods than when there are leaves on the trees. Occasionally now I can get a glimpse of the turkeys moving about in the distance. I was happy to capture these head shots last week of one of the local turkeys as it popped in and out of view.

wild turkey

wild turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Injured/Sick Wild Turkey

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , on January 13, 2020| 6 Comments »

When I spotted this Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) roosting low in a tree at the edge of a trail last Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I was initially happy to be able to get a shot. As I got closer, though, I was saddened to see that the turkey appeared to be injured or more likely suffering from a disease.

I was initially alerted to the presence of a ranger who drove past me heading in the opposite direction in a truck. I was sure that the passing of the truck had spooked the turkey and was surprised to see that it was still there as I silently moved closer. I noted small movements by the turkey, so I could tell that it was alive, but the extent of the damage to its face made me wonder if it could see. I quickly took the first two shots and departed.

When I circled back an hour later, I could see that the turkey had changed positions, but was still perched in the tree. I could now see that the damage to the other side of its face was equally severe. I worry about the survivability of this injured/sick wild turkey.

 

Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wild turkey in flight

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on January 4, 2020| 9 Comments »

I accidentally spooked a small flock of wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) on Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and one of them flew up into a tree in the middle of a field. I waited patiently and captured these shots when the turkey finally flew out of the tree. As you probably have noticed, the images are not in chronological order—I decided to lead with the two shots in which the turkey is in the air, which I think are the most dramatic images, and finish with the shot in which the turkey was starting to take off.

I was shooting almost straight into the sun, which is why the turkey is mostly a silhouette and the images seem like they were shot in black and white.

wild turkey

wild turkey

wild turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wild turkey in September

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 28, 2019| 3 Comments »

I do not know where the Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) were hiding, but I don’t think that I spotted a single one all summer. All of the sudden they seem to be back and I have seen them repeatedly during my most recent visits to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

During most of my encounters, I have spotted them in the distance, pecking away at the side of the trail. Before I can get within camera range, they usually sense my presence and waddle into the undergrowth. I was fortunate, however, to capture a shot of this one turkey who had lingered in the open a bit longer than his compatriots.

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wild Turkey display

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 21, 2019| 11 Comments »

Yesterday I was thrilled to get a glimpse of this impressive-looking Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I have seen Wild Turkeys at this refuge on numerous occasions, but this is one of the first images that I have been able to capture this spring.

I am always amazed when I come upon a male turkey displaying his feathers. I grew up in the suburbs of Boston and the only turkeys that I ever saw were those in the freezer at the supermarket, which did not look anything like this bird, and the cutout figures that we would pin to the wall to celebrate Thanksgiving. Somehow I always thought those cutouts were cartoonish caricatures—little did I know that wild turkeys actually look like those colorful figures.

wild turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Strutting turkey

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 23, 2018| 5 Comments »

I spotted this large Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) strutting about at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge this past weekend with about a dozen of his close friends. It was hard to get a group shot, so I focused instead on the largest turkey in the group and captured this image.

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Foraging turkeys

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on August 22, 2018| 2 Comments »

The vegetation at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge was so high recently that these two foraging wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) disappeared from view each time they leaned forward. It was like a game trying to figure out where they would pop up next. I played the game for for quite some time before I was able to capture them both in a single frame with their eyes visible—in most of the other shots the turkeys were looking away from me.

wild turkeys

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Wild Turkey in August

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on August 12, 2018| 1 Comment »

This past Monday I spotted this Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge as it basked in the warmth of the early morning sunlight. Earlier this year I would see turkeys regularly as I walked the trails at the wildlife refuge, but the last couple of months such sightings have been rare.

wild turkey

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Displaying Wild Turkey

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 3, 2018| 7 Comments »

I was amazed and thrilled yesterday when I spotted an impressively large male Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) putting on a showy display at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge near the edge of an open field. I suspect the lady turkeys were impressed too.

I have seen wild turkeys multiple times at this wildlife refuge, but generally it has been groups of females and their offspring. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website, “Courting males gobble to attract females and warn competing males. They display for females by strutting with their tails fanned, wings lowered, while making nonvocal hums and chump sounds. Males breed with multiple mates and form all-male flocks outside of the breeding season, leaving the chick-rearing to the females.” I was not able to get close enough to hear any gobbling, but the visual display by itself was stunning.

Spring is the season for love and I will be on the lookout as more male birds try to outdo their competitors and find mates using their brilliant colors, musical calls, or elaborate courting rituals.

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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Foraging wild turkey

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 17, 2018| 4 Comments »

This past Monday I was thrilled to catch a glimpse of several large wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) foraging in a field just off of the road early in the morning as I was driving into Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I stopped the car, grabbed my camera, and leaned out of the window, but was unable to frame a shot. I quietly got out of the car and was able to capture several images of one of them before they sensed my presence and scurried into the treeline and out of my sight.

wild turkey

wild turkey

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Male Wild Turkey

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 10, 2018| 9 Comments »

I heard some rustling deep in the heavy brush this morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and then caught sight of some bright colors—it was a male wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) along with several females. Focusing manually, I managed to get this shot.

Although I would have liked to get an unobstructed view of this magnificent bird, I actually like the way that the blurry vegetation creates a soft vignette that draws the viewer to the head of the turkey.

Wild Turkey

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Wild Turkeys in November

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on November 8, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Now that it is November, many Americans will start to think of turkeys, and in particular the ones that they will consume on Thanksgiving Day.  I have nothing against eating turkey, but I shudder to think of the conditions under which domesticated turkeys are raised—it is much more exciting to see Wild Turkeys in the wild.

As I wander the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I have gotten used to encountering small flocks of Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) from time to time at several different locations. One of the volunteers with whom I talked estimated that there are over a hundred Wild Turkeys within the 642 acres (2.6 sq km) of the refuge.

When I see them, the turkeys are usually foraging along the paths and in open areas of the woods. Most often the turkeys move into the woods as soon as they sense my presence, but occasionally I can move close enough to them to get shots of individual turkeys. Lighting is often a challenge, because the sunlight filtering through the trees creates bands of intense light and shadows.

Here are a couple of my favorite shots from this past Monday—I really like the display of feathers in the first image and the regal upright pose in the second shot.

Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Not quite hidden

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on October 7, 2017| 3 Comments »

A small flock of wild turkeys yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge moved off of the trail and into the woods as I approached. Peering through the vegetation a few seconds later, I was able to catch a glimpse of one of them that may have though it was well hidden.

It would be hard for me to say that Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) are beautiful, but they sure do have a distinctive look.

wild turkey

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Flock of wild turkeys

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on October 1, 2017| 11 Comments »

As I looked down one of the trails yesterday morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I spotted a group of large birds sprawled across the entire width of the trail. Having seen Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) a couple of times at this refuge, I correctly identified them, but I couldn’t figure out what they were doing. I later learned from the website of the National Wild Turkey Federation that wild turkeys use dust baths as part of their preening and plumage maintenance.

wild turkey

I tried to be stealthy and moved quietly forward, but the trail was wide and clear and the turkeys became aware of my presence. The flock slowly moved away— several of the turkeys flapped their wings to get a little additional momentum. I was uncertain if wild turkeys can fly and was surprised to learn from one internet source that wild turkeys can fly swiftly, with a maximum speed of 55 miles per hour (88 kph) and can run up to 25 mph (40 kph).

wild turkey

After a brief period of frantic movement, the birds settled down and began to forage. They seemed a little confused and looked around in different directions. When I got a bit closer, they eventually decided to move into the woods and did so in a rather leisurely fashion.

wild turkey

I could not tell for certain, but it looked to me that this flock of turkeys was made up of females and juveniles—I did not see any of the turkeys that look like the stereotypical male turkeys that are featured in the run-up to Thanksgiving. I will be alert for any sign of those males during future trips to this wildlife refuge.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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