Early morning visit

[BowEd]

I love seeing these on a chilly 15 to 20 degree morning.They are about  to 10 yards from my back door cleaning up what the songbirds have spilled.

[JW_Halverson]

Now I have Credence's song going through my head..."doot, doot, doo, lookin' out my backdoor"

Well those ain't tambourines and elephants, but they will do. They will do nicely. Like you, Ed, I don't get these people that move out past the heart of downtown and then complain that the turkeys are in their azaleas again, or the deer are pooping on their wonderfully manicured lawn and their prize-winning designer something-doodle mutt is eating it and rolling in it! Knowing what you and I do about how the wild turkey was on the edge of extinction not that danged long ago, it is an honor and a privilege to have these hulking tweetie birds visit your yard!

I bet these birds know the sound of your voice and the cadence of your footfalls, and come running every time you fill the feeder. All the best neighbors know what time is best to visit for coffee in the morning!

[BowEd]

That's a fitting song.I like most all wildlife visitors.As long as the snow and ice does'nt get too deep they all fair out pretty well over the winter.
Those people that move from out of town or city their whole life to the country never do get to understand how to get along with mother nature, but I do understand the desire sought by many to live in a more rural area.
Facts for the decision to do so usually involve trying to avoid a hostile enviornment of the degenerate human nature not mother nature.Much more dangerous.
Understanding the rules to get along with mother nature seems to be an inherited knowledge over a lifetime.

[PaSteve]

Great picture Ed. Love seeing a flock of fall/winter longbeards together. Helps give you an idea of how promising the spring season should be... A piece I used to hunt had a good population of turkeys. Every fall I'd see a good flock of longboards together... Most I ever counted was 23 but the mixed hen/jenny/Jake flocks I saw over 100 in one group. Birds went to roost for a couple hundred yards across a ridge. The following morning I busted them off roost just to hear the excited kee-kees & assembly yelps... That was an exciting experience. You can learn a lot about turkey vocabulary in a situation like that... Some of the Jakes were even practicing their juvenile gobbles. Sad to say there's no turkeys in those hills anymore. Talked to a biologist that said they were pretty sure a disease wiped them out in that specific area.... Don't hunt there anymore so not sure if they'd started to rebound.

[BowEd]

Your so right Steve.I've had the privilege of listening to them often too leaving the roost.They have quite a vocabulary.Populations have maintained here pretty good.I've seen many more in larger groups too.There's usually always a few hens nesting in the spring fairly close by.I seem to have plenty of pictures of these turkeys.Here they show up in the dead of winter.

Shot quite a few with the old single shot shotgun in the past,but none with a self bow yet.Had opportunities from tree stands for a self bow shot but deer are in the area at the same time.I should make a better effort to concentrate on turkeys alone.
Every now and then bobwhites show up.Picture taken from the house here.See them while deer hunting too.Hear pheasant roosters crowing occasionally.The pheasant population is not as much here as in NW Iowa though,but they don't have any quail at all.I think the winters are just too harsh for them up there.There are pockets of these quail in this area.They do have the hungarian gray partridge up north which is a covey type bird like quail also.They seem tougher than pheasants actually.Sorry no pictures of them from around here but they are size wise in between pheasants and quail.Beautifully colored birds also.

[PaSteve]

Very interesting Ed. Had no idea about the Hungarian Partridge. Iowa's been known for it's pheasant hunting as long as I can remember at least for a nonresident.
      Growing up in PA we had pheasant everywhere and the occasional quail. Turkeys were around but not much hunting pressure in the spring. That didn't become more popular until the late 80's early 90's. Fall turkey was a bigger attraction. Seasons ran concurrent with small game and we used have a million+ small game hunters years ago. Now, most of the pheasant hunting is raised & released birds. Appears when some populations grow or stay stable others dwindle off.

[BowEd]

Yes populations can go up and down here.I don't shoot any of the quail around here.
I remember the hungarian gray partridge was kinda a tough bird to get with a shotgun.They usually flew up too far ahead out of range most times.Some guys would trick them or try by blowing on a hawk whistle to make them sit tighter.