This post has been updated. See below.
Saturday morning as I went out to feed the cats, I noticed this hen turkey clucking around by the lilac bushes.
As I got closer to her, she seemed to get very wary, and suddenly I heard a little "cheep" from in the bushes. With one eye on the hen, I started searching the bushes, but they're so thick, I doubted I'd be able to see any little ones. To my surprise, a little turkey flew up into the higher branches of the lilacs!
I ran back to the house for the camera, hoping the baby would stay put. When I got back, I couldn't find where it was, but then it flew to a more distant part of the lilacs. I tried to find it, hoping for a photo. Rainbow (the cat) had followed me, and mama turkey got very upset and chased her off. Wish I'd gotten a photo of that. :) Or a photo of her coming at me after that, but I was too busy sticking out my foot and shooing her off! Thank goodness that worked!
I finally gave up. The lilac row was too long and too thick to be able to see any babies, and mama turkey was getting very distraught and I didn't want to upset her more or have her come at me again!
I proceeded into the machine shed to feed the cats, but as I got in there, another little baby turkey flew from the rafters and out the door! I guess they weren't such 'babies' as I'd thought! Then I wondered if there could be any more in there.....
Lo and behold, I was in luck! I spotted another one still sitting in the rafters! It allowed me 3 shots before it flew to the back of the shed and into the wall (ouch!) and disappeared under some machinery.
Unfortunately, in my haste to get a photo, I forgot to check the exposure reading on the camera, and the pics I did get were waaay too dark. Bummer. But here's the best one, enhanced as well as I could, just to prove there really was a baby turkey there (center of photo):
I cropped it for a closer look, but of course the quality is terrible:
So the mama had at least 3 winged-and-able-to-fly babies. I then left her to her clucking trying gather them back together. I hope she found them all. At least I haven't seen any evidence that any cats made a meal of them.
Here's a photo I took a few years ago of a turkey baby that happened to be right outside our garage. They're easier to photograph when they're this little. :)
Update: I no more than got my comment below posted (from my iPad, while still in the comfort of my bed), when I heard a strange thumping sound coming from.... somewhere! It would thump a bit, stop, then thump some more. Grandpa had already left, so I knew it wasn't him. The cats were supposed to be still locked in the entry, but I thought they might've escaped to the basement while Grandpa was down there, as it's happened before. But the sound continued too long for a cat. I hopped out of bed to investigate, but still couldn't figure it out. Then I looked out one more window, and voilà !
I grabbed the camera and rushed to my sewing room, and this is what I saw out that window:
This crazy gobbler was pecking at my window!
It's not the first time a turkey has done this. If you want to see one in action, there's a kind of fun video here.
Take another look at that pic above. Down in the right-hand corner.
Yep, she wasn't alone! And here's a much better shot than I got Saturday:
There were two hens and another baby in the background. Soon they were on their way. Thank goodness! I wondered if the window would hold up!
When I got back upstairs and finally looked out the window, they were already out past the garden. I couldn't see too well with stuff in the way, but there were at least six babies! Ugh. At least they were beyond the garden and not in it destroying my crops. I guess the distress of Saturday morning didn't deter the hen from coming back. Darn it.
