There were at least 30 Wild Turkeys in this flock (or herd?), all streaming across the road and over a stone wall into a nearby yard:
(Update 9/13/12: My mother has just informed me that a group of turkeys is called a "gang", which somehow feels extremely appropriate for describing these birds. A group of turkeys can also be a "rafter", but I like "gang" better.)
Come on, ladies, over the top you go!
These creatures were eying me and my car pretty warily, but they still let me get some fantastic close-up views as we crossed each other's paths. I actually don't know if I've ever been so close to Wild Turkeys before! Unfortunately, the light was quickly fading, so most of these pictures are kind of blurry, but they still give a pretty good idea of the total weirdness of these birds. What a face!
Turkeys are definitely big, but they were trucking along at a brisk pace on those long legs. And the expressions on their faces were really something else. I feel like this trio must've been channeling a bit of the Skeksis -- they look downright dastardly from this angle:
From what I could tell, most of these birds were female, and the few males that I saw in their breeding garb really stood out. Check out this fancy fellow's long "beard", and all those iridescent colors in his feathers (that's something I didn't expect -- pretty colors on a turkey!):
It's a little hard to tell in this picture, but he's also got big sharp spurs on his legs, the better for fighting with other males, I assume.
After an afternoon of exciting sights at the beach, the turkeys were a great end to the day. I love living outside the city!
*The title of this post is a quote from the classic holiday special, A Muppet Family Christmas. Wow, did I really just make two Jim Henson references in one post?
We used to get turkeys at our bird feeder - a bit startling!
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