I have, at least in my own mind, named the male and female turkeys who vist most frequently Sam and Harriet. Sam stopped by yesterday and waited by the slider as if waiting for an invitaion to enter.
I noticed both turkeys scratching and diggibg in the snow after acorns. When they find one, they swallow it whole, no cracking the shell required.
Not a lot of snow this winter, but we did get a few (c. 3”)inches of pretty snow on December 8th, and I managed to take this picture of a male Northern cardinal through my window with my iPhone.
Male Northern Cardinal
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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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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.
Male Northern Cardinal
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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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