Wild turkeys, oh my!

On the way to pay another visit to Mike & Kathy’s backyard, we drove near a lake in southwestern Indiana and came across these beautiful wild turkeys. I’d never seen any before. They are very large, and incredibly graceful in flight. No wonder Ben Franklin chose them as his pick for the national bird.

This group had three birds. Later, we saw a larger flock of about ten or twelve turkeys.

We took this photo of the largest one from the first group.  As we got closer it led the other two in flight to the nearest (safe) tree.

Mike said they were virtually extinct around here a few years ago, but a local group of volunteers worked to bring them back. And they have.

Through a handful of volunteers, and a “hatch and release” program, the birds are no longer on an endangered list. And they are beautiful to watch. The group is the National Wild Turkey Federation.

It’s a funny thing. Gardens – whether the kind we grow in our backyard, or the larger and more natural versions in the wild, attract so many creatures. Near my backyard, we have two flocks of geese that fly over every day. Here, there are wild turkeys, white herons and cranes.