Something Downeast

I’ve seen wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) in Maine before, in York county as well as in Cumberland, but now I’ve seen them on my mother’s patio.

I first saw the turkeys, two of them, a young male and a female on Sunday. I was busy doing something, when I noticed a shadow on the patio. It was two turkeys, a male and a female. The male has the beginnings of a wattle, and both turkeys are showing attractive colored tail feathers.

Neighbors reported seeing the turkeys throughout the campus on Monday. Today the turkeys returned to Mom’s patio, finding spilled bird seed acceptable food, and enjoying the patio furniture.

Turkeys were once native all over New England. These turkeys are descendants of turkeys dekibwrately restored after mostly vanishing. I hope that these two survive and continue to visit this Winter, not only for their own sake, but because squirrels avoid them.

 

Male wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo silvestris

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Not sure how much snow we got but I’d guess at least five inches. It was a wet, heavy snow, and knocked the power out for a couple of days.

I took this picture at 6:55 AM on Thursday April 4th, while it was still snowing, and before the really heavy winds kicked in.

Heavy snow the morning of April 4, 2024

 

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I took this picture on Sunday afternoon. Late Satrurday night, the snow turned to freezing rain, covering even the top branches of the oaks with glittering coats of ices.

 

Oaks covered with ice

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It’s been a rough winter, and a rough year, in a number of ways. The birds have been scarce, which is always hard, but it’s especially hard in a Winter marked by COVID-19 and self-isolation.

Today I took a picture of this male Northern Cardinal sunning himself. This was the first morning this year that I heard a Cardinal sing at dawn, which this fellow did right outside my window. This picture was taken about five hours later, when he returned to catch some rays and preen a little. The picture is not high art; I took it through the window, using my phone. Still, he’s a handsome fellow, and I was happy to see him.

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Early this morning, between 4:15 and 4:45 I heard a female Barred owl’s “solicitation call.” This is a strikingly odd, very distinctive high-pitched call that signals male Barred owl’s that she’s interested and available for mating. I was too tired to record it, but here’s an excellent recording from YouTub:

Female Barred Owl solicitation call

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