A Plethora of Poults

A Wild Turkey hen and poults foraging along a gravel trail.

They really seem to like the ripening wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius), and so do I!

Our large population of "Wild" Turkeys has produced a bumper crop of chicks this year, even in spite of the Cooper Hawks that patrol the airways and the coyotes that prowl the meadows.  The successful veteran hens have learned that there's safety in numbers, and group their individual families together.  It's not unusual to see three hens accompanied by 15 poults strolling the preserve.

I've had a difficult time getting a good image of the aggregated groups so far.  If I take out my camera to take a shot, they warily move into tall vegetation.  However, once the hens get hungry and come to the birdseed that I put out for them, the poults will soon follow and become more comfortable in my presence.  If tradition holds, by autumn the adolescent poults will practically knock on the back door for food.

Wild Turkeys, Slime Molds, Indian-Pipes and Wood Turtles

Over a decade ago, an individuals with a house bordering a park downstream of the natural area that I haunt released some Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). The turkeys became well established, flourished, and spread downstream and upstream into "my" natural area--and my back yard.

This year was a banner year for poults, and last month three prolific hens gathered their broods together for mutual protection and now patrol the natural area. The combined group appears almost nightly for a birdseed handout, and I'm most happy to oblige. In the wild, turkeys are wary and skittish; here, they are almost pets, though they draw the line at taking food from my hand.
In my previous post, I featured a bright yellow slime mold that reappeared this summer in exactly the same spot on an oak stump where it gathered last summer. By nightfall last evening, only a few hours after I photographed it, the slime mold had ascended to the top of the stump and had reformed itself into what appeared to be a foamy, pale-pink crust. I'm watching for sporulating bodies, but have seen nothing yet. Stay tuned...

This morning, going out for the newspaper, I noticed that Indian-pipes (Monotropa uniflora) had pushed up through the pine straw. I usually associate this saprophytic wildflower that gets its nutrients from mycorrhizal fungi with the autumn, but I'm probably thinking of saprophytic beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana) whose flowering structures often dry out and persist for long periods, becoming most obvious in the winter after leaf fall. My wildflower guide says that Indian-pipes bloom from June through August, so these are right on schedule.

Wood Turtle (Clemmys insculpta)

One of my neighbors sent me these images of a Wood Turtle (Clemmys insculpta) that her daughter found in the creek flowing through "my" natural area this spring. According to the natural area's naturalist, this is their first record of a Wood Turtle, though the species' range encompasses large parts of the northern Piedmont and well beyond. Either we're just too urbanized or no one has been observant enough to record the species before. Incidentally, my neighbor assured me that she and her daughter returned the turtle to exactly the same spot where they found it after they took these pictures in their back yard; I believe her.

Zuni Turkey Fetishes

Three of the Zuni turkey fetishes that we bought when we visited Gallup and the Zuni Pueblo in May 2009. Turkeys have become our real focus when we shop for native crafts, antiques, and artwork. This passion stemmed from the fact that farm-raised Wild Turkeys were released into a county park near our home and established large, self-sustaining populations in our neighborhood. They're magnificent birds and we enjoy all of the nuances that artists incorporate into their artwork. In fact, they're so dramatic, we can't believe that every artist who uses natural themes in their work doesn't take advantage of turkeys' coloring, shape, and behavior.