And the reincarnation of Kevin the Wild Turkey. This time around they may call him Bruce.
Yesterday morning my best opportunities for bird photography came from a large flock of Wild Turkeys hanging around an isolated ranch in northern Utah.
1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 312 mm
Due to thin clouds the light was only mediocre and I was close enough to them that I was usually using my smaller and slower zoom lens so I didn’t have enough shutter speed to prevent motion blur with birds in flight. But when I saw that this hen turkey was about to fly to the ground from the top of an old hay/equipment barn I couldn’t resist trying to get some flight/falling shots, despite knowing that I didn’t have quite enough shutter speed for action shots even from such a large bird. As a result some of these photos aren’t as sharp as I’d like them to be.
Turkeys are very large and heavy birds so short flights like this one was going to be remind me a little of a Sherman tank trying to fly. They’re not very maneuverable in flight and their wings make a tremendous amount of noise. Their flights often make me think they’re a disaster about to happen.
She picked out her landing spot on the ground and…
1/800, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 312 mm
launched her massive body into the void at a very steep angle.
1/800, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 312 mm
I like her look of determination to hit her landing spot amongst the other turkeys without having it result in a crash landing.
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1/800, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 312 mm
Here she’s leveling out so that she can…
1/800, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 312 mm
use what I call “parachute mode” to slow the decent of her very heavy body.
I lost sharp focus on her for the next three photos in the burst so I’m not including them (this one isn’t very sharp either).
1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 312 mm
I think this last photo illustrates well the pandemonium of a turkey in flight. The motion blur of her wings only enhances it. After this shot I began to cut off body parts.
Talk about timing. Last night during a pause in my dinner-cooking activities I happened to look at the KSL News link on my phone and the lead story was about “Kevin” the Wild Turkey whose antics and personality have helped to bring the community of Fruit Heights, Utah together during the stress and uncertainty of the pandemic. I included the link in the previous sentence and I think it’s worth a look so I hope you check it out.
It’s funny how we can become so attached to a random wild bird. Or maybe it isn’t.
Ron
Your description of turkey flight (along with Bruce’s WKRP reference) make me think of Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose. These shots are pretty special — how often does anyone get to see a turkey fly?
Your photos got me wondering if there was any evolutionary connection between Turkeys and Vultures because of their bare heads. Apparently not; it appears to be for thermal regulation, rather than the commonly held assumption that prey tissue would get imbedded in feathers. Perhaps parallel evolution?
A short but informative article:
https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/archiveofnews/2008/march/headline_69551________________________en.html
I missed commenting on yesterday’s post. The light plastic netting used to keep birds from eating crops is vile as well. I’ve seen Juncos get fatally caught in it and I found myself disentangling a Starling from it.
Lyle, I don’t have any experience with the plastic netting you refer to. I’ve seen it at the garden centers but didn’t know it would actually entangle birds. Makes sense that it would though.
Thanks for the link. I’ll check it out this evening.
Cool shots! Of course it immediately brought to mind Mr. Carlson on WRKP.
“As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly”
Bruce, I actually watched that WKRP clip again a couple of days ago.
She looks like some prehistoric windup toy – I can hear her wings whirling in the last photo! Did she actually land safely?
We had a flock who visited our suburban backyard/neighborhood when we lived in New Jersey. They were so much fun to watch, strolling the streets, the toms displaying on front lawns like very weird lawn ornaments.
Yup, she landed just fine, Carolyn. Hard to believe isn’t it.
Good morning from New Zealand,
Your posting was timely as I had just been watching some feral Turkeys here in NZ – they, along with a slew of other exotics, are well established in many areas.
Regarding the use of the name ‘Bruce’ – for cultural reasons Australian followers would comment the name could only be applied if the Turkey was Australian. (You may want to look up ‘The Adventures of Barry McKenzie’ to get that back story for this).
Best wishes.
Looks like I have some research to do on Barry McKenzie!
Good shots! I like how the iridescence of the feathers — especially the coppery colors — matches the rusty structure in the background. Their plumage is quite stunning. I appreciated the landing sequence. Quite a bit of complicated maneuvering! We have urban turkeys that live in the hilly and treed fringes of the town. They do make a racket when they fly.
They sure do. When multiple turkeys take off the decibels really crank up!
I always think better of people who become attached to a random wild animal. Much better. Loved the link (thank you).
And in awe of the courage of a bird of that size even attempting flight.
Early morning smiles here this morning. Thank you.
EC, if I were a turkey I might consider having my wings amputated, just so I wasn’t tempted to fly… 🙂 Knowing me I’d push the limits and crash and burn.
I would love to have a wild turkey, some peacocks and guinea fowl in my yard, but I live in Salt Lake proper and the neighbors would complain. I also would have to keep the birds safe at night from raccoons, we have a ton of the little bandits living on Red Butte gully. I enjoy watching the male turkeys display to anything. The sound they make with their wings is really neat.
April, the males in this flock (and there were a lot of them) were displaying up a storm.
To be honest I wouldn’t want peacocks anywhere near me. They’re too incredibly loud.
I grew up with peacocks in our yard, not our birds, the neighbors. I loved the jungle atmosphere there calls gave the yard.
I like your response to Stephen that both sharp and blurred wing tips have their place. To me depends on the bird and photo itself, but I have seen photos of both that I really liked. That last photo is really good. Glad you stayed with her when she flew down or jumped.
“I have seen photos of both that I really liked”
So have I, Everett. I’m not sure why I lean toward not having wing motion blur but that’s been my usual preference from my early days of photographing birds.
Ron,
You mention sharpness a lot and it is the singular problem with which I struggle in all forms of photography. (A recent Milky Way shoot including 25 x 30-second long exposures were all a wash when I got home and found I was “just a bit off” of sharp focus. ARGH!) However, with birds in flight I don’t mind the tips of the wings having a little motion blur to add that sense of (obvious) motion in a flying bird. Do you always try to avoid even that motion blur with your high (adequate?) shutter speeds?
Always love your shots,
Stephen
Stephen, my preference is no motion blur in the wings so that’s always my goal, even though it’s often unreachable. In many instances I also like wing motion blur because of its implied motion – it’s just that I slightly prefer sharp wings. It’s a taste kinda thing.
Many excellent bird photographers (and consumers of their photographs) like wing motion blur at least as well as sharp wings. They both have their place.
We have wild rabbits here and there is one who took up residence under a shed in the backyard. We call her Peterina (in case she isn’t a she!) and put food out for her. She was very very thin so I actually bought vitamin-enriched pet rabbit pellets… We see her (well, some version of her?) all the time. LOL Who knows if it is the same rabbit. But, like Kevin the Turkey, she brings us much needed joy.
The landing of the turkey is awkward indeed! I hope those below were looking up. That could leave a mark!
“I hope those below were looking up. That could leave a mark!”
It sure could, Arwen. Or worse than that.
Regardless – these shots are fantastic!
Many thanks for sharing! Hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving!
Same to you, Dick. Thanks.
I have never before seen the glories of a turkey’s wing feathers spread out. Lovely. We don’t need stories of aliens. We have them right here, in so many odd birds. Their faces! The wattles on the males! Yikes. And don’t get me started on deep sea critters.
Agreed, Sallie. Wild Turkeys could be the poster child for odd-looking birds. The heads and necks of the adult males especially.
I’m glad you included the link to Kevin’s story—for a minute there, I thought
“Is Ron christening his subjects with names, now ?”–also enjoyed Terri’s
link– but shouldn’t a turkey “turkey walk”, rather than “jay walk” ? I’m glad
that Kevin at least got to “go” by falling out of a tree, instead of gracing the table.
“I’m glad that Kevin at least got to “go” by falling out of a tree, instead of gracing the table”
Kris, that “falling out of a tree” part of the Kevin story illustrates well why turkeys have to be so very careful in flight and during landings. A 17 lb. out of control turkey would definitely go splat.
One evening at a ranch in the canyon lands of southeastern Colorado I was amazed to see turkeys fly to roosts high (40-50 feet) in large, old cottonwoods. In the morning they jumped, flew, parachuted down. Turkeys definitely appear awkward, but are surprisingly able to get to and from a place if they want to.
Nancy, some of these turkeys were actually perched on power lines about 40′ feet off the ground. I have no idea how such large birds can stay on a perch like that.
“Graceful” definitely NOT what they are in flight! VBG! 3rd shot is interesting as I wouldn’t think of one parachuting smoothly either. 🙂 Fun series, Ron. Kevin article is also fun – folks do get attached to an occasional critter and it’s antics at times… 😉 “Nurseries” of Canada Geese goslings are what clog areas of traffic in Great Falls at times in the spring – most are tolerant of it – heaven forbid one be accused of massacring a bunch of babies! 😉
Judy, as you probably know, some folks quickly lose their tolerance for geese in the city as soon as they start stepping on goose poop.
Yep – “goose/duck butter” is NOT amusing…. 😉 Also lose it when they start taking over Gibson Pond with it’s ornamental geese/swans/ducks – of course, folks feeding them has nothing to do with that….. 😉
Speaking of turkeys, when I visited and walked the lovely streets of Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, five years ago, I saw several wild turkeys walking on the sidewalk! Another pedestrian told me there were about 100 wild turkeys that routinely walked in their neighborhood. I did a post about that wonderful town, plus a photo of a pedestrian turkey, here it is . . https://lalaironwheels.blogspot.com/2017/06/idahos-coeur-dalene-is-picture-perfect.html
Terri, Wild Turkeys walk the streets of some of our small mountain towns too. To some folks they’re a nuisance but others love them.