![\"wild-turkey-1270-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/wild-turkey-1270-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nYesterday Wild Turkeys saved the day for me along Promontory Road. There sure wasn’t much else out and about to photograph.<\/p>\n
Wild Turkeys can be fairly common in certain mountainous areas of Utah but they’re often in agricultural areas near small towns and those types of habitats don’t much appeal to me as background. I photographed these birds in a truly\u00a0natural setting and the turkeys themselves were skittish, wild and unaccustomed to the trappings of man. Humans\u00a0are the major predators of adult Wild Turkeys\u00a0so in the wild they’re extremely wary of us.<\/p>\n
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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n This big\u00a0male was the obvious leader of the pack. He was usually more out in the open than the rest of the flock and he was often calling to the other birds who would eventually come out of cover when he deemed it safe to do so. He was obviously quite wary of my pickup at first but soon…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n some of the other turkeys came out in the open too, apparently as a result of him calling them.<\/p>\n It was difficult to discern how many turkeys there were on the side of the mountain. There was at least two fairly large groups of them separated from each other by some distance. I only got glimpses of birds in the other group but\u00a0I could hear them calling as they moved about.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n I had multiple opportunities to photograph turkeys in flight as they flew from place to place on the side of the almost vertical mountain but none of them were very sharp.<\/p>\n Utah has three subspecies of Wild Turkeys but most of ours are either Merriam’s or Rio Grande. “Rios” can be distinguished from the other subspecies by the coloration of the tips of the tail feathers, coloration of the upper tail coverts, and the barring in the primary wing feathers. In the Rio Grande turkey those feathers\u00a0are buff or tan, in contrast with the white tips of the Merriam’s subspecies. Those feathers were tan or buff in all of these birds I photographed so I believe them to be Rio Grande Wild Turkeys.<\/p>\n But<\/em>, Wild\u00a0Turkeys often hybridize so identifying them as to subspecies can be difficult. If I’m wrong please correct me (due to the softness of this image I only include it because of the good look at the tan colors at the tip of the tail which are definitely not<\/em> white).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n Here the big tom was obviously contemplating flying to a higher spot on the side of the mountain (in the direction he’s looking) but after some time he turned around and led the rest of the flock in the opposite direction – down the very steep mountain.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n It was so steep that they half flew, half ran down the mountain. Because of the tilted layers of the sedimentary rock in the background it almost looks like this image needs rotation to level it until we notice the angle of the turkey’s left leg and the vertical direction the vegetation is growing.<\/p>\n I don’t see or photograph Wild Turkeys very often so these birds were a treat for me. It was especially enjoyable to hear their calls bouncing off the mountain in my direction. I can hear them in my head as I type this post.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday Wild Turkeys saved the day for me along Promontory Road. There sure wasn’t much else out and about to photograph.<\/p>\n![\"wild-turkey-1293-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/wild-turkey-1293-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"wild-turkey-1180-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/wild-turkey-1180-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"wild-turkey-1353-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/wild-turkey-1353-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"wild-turkey-1381-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/wild-turkey-1381-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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