The Wild Turkey Family

A little over a week ago, I heard a lot of bird vocalizations outside the house, including much crow cawing and some classic upset-turkey sounds.

I suspected the bobcat of being in the area, and wandered over towards the neighboring property where the crow hullaballoo was coming from, but saw no sign of the cat.

All the while, a female turkey was standing stationary just above the driveway, clucking continuously.

As I made my way back towards the house, I heard tiny peeping sounds from the direction that I had come. The crows at this point had dispersed. Then the female turkey switched to highly agitated gobbling, and I knew then that it was a mother turkey who had become separated from her young.

I went right inside, but "spied" from the upstairs bedroom window, and within about a minute saw a group if quite tiny baby turkeys rejoining their mother. Then the mother moved off, with the babies following (and sometimes leading). That's where the photo below came from.

Mom turkey with eight youngsters. Reunited!

It's been about a week-and-a-half and we have seen this mother with her young almost very day on or near our property. Yesterday there was tell-tale evidence of splashing at the ground-level bird bath on the patio.

Today I saw the mother again, in almost the exact spot that the photo above shows, and I could see the group (and there were still eight babies visible this time) moving towards the patio where the bird bath is.

I tried to spy without being seen, but that was difficult, and I didn't want to risk scaring them. But I caught a glimpse of the group fully engaged in drinking at the bath! I managed one photo, with a chair and border of the glass window clearly visible in the shot.

Cool drink time for the turkey family.

So far this mother has been quite successful at protecting her brood!