Imagine my surprise when I looked out the kitchen window and saw this:
I had never seen a wild turkey growing up in the midwest, but do see them sometimes here in New England. I didn’t know they came to bird feeders, though. The turkey was so big, I didn’t know if he (she?) could fly. Our back yard is fenced all the way around with four-foot-high fencing.
After the turkey had been in our yard for quite a while, I became concerned that it might be trapped. And even though our standard poodle is now eleven years old, he still loves to chase things. I walked out into the yard to see what the turkey would do. He ran very fast (didn’t know turkeys could do that either!) When he got to the fence, he stopped and walked a little next to the fence. Then he hopped up onto the top of the fence and jumped down to the ground on the other side. He ran across the neighbor’s yard and was gone.
A friend told me that turkeys do indeed fly, and she sees them sometimes sitting in trees near her house. That, I would love to see. 
Love it when the photo ops come to us!
Hi Ellen!
Oh, how cool! Did you get to hear it? Maybe you can find a more popular interpretive spelling of the sort of ‘belling’ sound than I did. *grin* Barring injury, the wild turkeys are among the fastest fliers and those stilts they get around on..they can’t half sprint. I hope you get a shot of one in a tree, I never saw the one that visited here up in a tree but I’ve no doubt it was spending time up in one ’round here somewhere.
Have fun with the weird visits!
cheers.
pete
Hi Karol and Pete!
Yes, I was lucky the the turkey was still there after I ran to get my camera.
It didn’t make any sounds that I could hear. I would love to have heard it and to have seen it fly and sit in a tree.
What a big surprise! We don’t usually have such big birds in England, though my parents had a big house in the country, and were surprised one day by the arrival of a peacock!! It lived in the garden for some weeks, roosting in a tree away from the foxes. Eventually we arranged for it to be taken somewhere where there were other peacocks, as I’m sure it got lonely.
I set up a bird feeder a few months ago, then went into hospital for a couple of weeks. When I returned I found that mice had invaded my kitchen. They had come after the birds’ feed which I had left in an open topped jug. I like mice – but not in my pantry!
I think I left a comment about your turkey in Mister Linky by mistake. Maybe you can remove it as I don’t know how to???
Hi Valerie,
Ooh, I love peacocks! My mom used to have a peacock that visited her yard in Florida every day. I think it liked the cat food that she kept outside for the nursery cats. She said it was aggressive with sharp beak and claws and warned my daughter to stay away from it. Sometimes we saw it sitting on her roof.
We keep our bird seed in a big, lidded garbage can in the garage to deter squirrels and chimpmunks from tearing holes in the bag, eating the seed, and making a big mess. It works pretty well.
I fixed your MisterLinky comment in the Studio Shots blog.
You know – I once had a whole flock (what is it called?? probably not a flock, but you get the gist!) of turkeys living in a tree next to the house we rented. They would roost in that tree – then they would stomp all over my roof. I never complained about my kids stomping on the floor after that – those turkeys are waaaaay louder!!
be careful, tho – momma turkeys with their young are VERY MEAN. !
nice photo op!
What a cool shot! And though turkeys aren’t the most lovely of birds :0) :0) this one is quite a handsome bird as far as turkeys go.
I see wild turkeys all of the time here in new enlgand; even more than I did when I lived in the midwest. I’ve seen them under apple trees in the spring too, feeding on the freshly uncovered fallen apples from the previous fall.
They do indeed fly.. and in flocks too! I had a bunch of them fly right over me well above my head. The flew for a distance of at least four blocks. I’m not sure what their flight range is. It was an amazing sight!
Thanks for sharing you pictures!