Are you fascinated by birds, their ability to escape the confines of earth with flight, their marvelous color patterns and not in the least, their song?
Have you complied a life list over the years? What are your favorites among those birds you have seen and heard?
Having watched and studied birds most of my life and compiled a substantial life list from various parts of the country and beyond, I have my favorites amongst the group and they are now prominently displayed on the wall in my great room as seen on the right.
It might even be fun to include your state bird in the center of that group. I am in the process of including all the state birds in my collection. Enter the gallery by clicking on any of the images or on the gallery link above, and see what you like.
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Four Hens and Three Rancheros
September 17: Fall rolled around once again and amidst the riot of yellow and red leaves come the turkeys. First, the four hens who probably are either this year’s grownup babies or last spring’s maiden aunts march in from the pasture.
At first they were leery of my presence when I placed their cracked corn on the rock in the backyard. They were torn between their natural fear of me and their appetite for corn. I attempted to cluck like a turkey to ease their fear. Now whenever I appear before the hens, I cluck to them and they associate me with their corn and wait expectantly for their handout, cautiously moving closer to me. I approach them slowly with eyes lowered, subdued, non-threatening so that they now more or less trust me.
One day not too long ago, three fine specimens of male turkeydom appeared shortly after the hens departed. The next day, they tagged along after the hens displaying their feathered finery not for the benefit of the hens, but to impress each other as they strutted around in a circular fashion. Now four hens and three toms show up together each morning and evening like clockwork. For the most part, the toms chase the hens aside. Whatever happened to inviting a lady to dinner. After all, who knows what reward that might bring!
In past years, I have had turkeys visit my yard on a regular basis, but somehow they mysteriously disappear just before Thanksgiving time, only to reappear after that holiday. Hmmmm….
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