Well, I was out again today … had to pick up a ‘scrip from WalMart that they had called me about, and, having a bit of free time, I went through my usual tour of the parks. I didn’t expect much, because the sky was a uniform grey-blue and rather uninteresting. (I don’t photograph clouds exclusively, but I sure do like to have them for a backdrop, if I can.) As I went along the road where I had shot the turkey pictures yesterday, I kept a sharp eye out on the roadside, to see if he had come back.
Sure enough, there he was! I stopped the car, put on the hazard flashers, and slid out the door, making as little fuss as possible, camera in hand with the 200mm lens attached.
A rather nice shot, I thought, and being on foot, I began to move in the same direction that he was going.
I noticed several darkish shapes moving more-or-less along with him, barely visible in the grass. My first thought was mice, but then I realized that “he” was “she”:
And the little shapes were chicks!
I did my best to photograph the little buggers, but it was devilish difficult; they were no taller than the grass, and usually very busy with whatever they were finding at ground level. You wouldn’t believe the wasted frames! At last I got this; there are five in here by my count … that black thing up in the corner is mum.
And here’s another … I get a count of seven in this one. I don’t know if she’s picking that one up in the top of the picture, or it’s a trick of the light and perspective, but I’m counting it:
So, off they go, eating whatever it is they eat … probably bugs.
… and off I go, suitably chastened at my mistake of yesterday.
But, as compensation I got this little guy after he had run out into the road and quickly back again … Just a baby, although there’s nothing to give scale, he was very small.
Why do I always get these things so I have to shoot into the sun? Oh, well … at least I got the light coming through his ears.
When I got home, I found His Majesty waiting for me:
Cheers, all!
Ooooops!
31
Jul
der Wandersmann 
Gaffin Sheedeedy
July 31, 2014 at 6:36 am
Cool. I’ve been lots of rabbits and hares, rats, and even a badger, over the last few weeks, but all under cover of dark.
evawiren
July 31, 2014 at 6:02 pm
Very nice shots all of them. it is so nice finding the chickens. What a treat . And your cat is wonderful
derwandersmann
July 31, 2014 at 6:10 pm
Thanks, Eva … I was so sorry I couldn’t get better pictures, but I’m sure they would have run away if I’d gotten close enough to be able to shoot downward at them. I was lucky to get these. I’d never seen turkey chicks before.
evawiren
July 31, 2014 at 7:47 pm
Indeed or they would play dead. They are very sweet
pam
July 31, 2014 at 8:01 pm
Nice captures dW. Love how you got the sun coming through the bunny’s ears. And love that you caught the turkey family. I’m always surprised when I see wild turkeys so close to people. Saw my first ones a couple months ago at one of the parks near the Red River. It’s a place I go once a week or so, usually just to sit and listen to the silence, around sunset. Of course, right now that’s around 9 pm. I don’t stay later than 8:30 pm especially when I am by myself. It gets a little too spooky. One of those times is when I saw two turkeys just meandering through the grass. There are lots of trees there too.
There’s a small boat dock so sometimes I watch guys go through the process of dropping off the boat, parking the truck, then go off to do a bit of fishing, but as late as I’m there, it’s usually when they are coming back. It’s kind of interesting to watch and peaceful too.
One evening, right around 8 pm, I was looking up to the sky watching some swifts darting about when all of a sudden, there was a woosh, then there were hundreds of birds all flying about! Must have been the time the bugs came out? Don’t know. Then I saw two very small birds chasing a Golden Eagle. The eagle must have been getting too close to a nest maybe. They chased him for a long time. Time enough for another eagle to raid the nest I’ll bet. I wonder if it did.
It was amazing seeing so many birds all at once like that.
derwandersmann
August 1, 2014 at 12:27 am
I don’t know if eagles hunt cooperatively like that.
blackcalla
August 1, 2014 at 12:03 am
Nice shots dW. We have lots of turkeys all around in Michigan. We used to find egg in our yard up North, but no chicks. Very good find.
derwandersmann
August 1, 2014 at 12:28 am
Thanks, Merle. I was surprised to see them. I’d never seen turkey chicks before.
Darko
August 1, 2014 at 1:00 pm
That’s nice!!! On previous posts they might have been there too, hiding in a grass 😀
Deb Platt
August 4, 2014 at 1:19 am
I see turkeys pretty regularly, but I’ve never been lucky enough to see the chicks. Very cute!
Words
August 4, 2014 at 10:10 am
Well spotted with the turkey chicks. No problem shooting into the sun. I do it a lot, especially with rabbits. It shows their ears off splendidly.
derwandersmann
August 4, 2014 at 3:11 pm
Yes, but it’s tough to get the surroundings to look right … especially grass, which turns into a fluorescent green mass.
Serola
August 5, 2014 at 10:57 am
I like the shots taken against the light =) Those hare shots are great.
derwandersmann
August 5, 2014 at 3:41 pm
Thanks … I do my best to get them “readable” with Photoshop, but those contrasts are a bear to manage. What we have around here are rabbits, actually … our true hares are found in the West, and are, paradoxically, called “jackrabbits”. We also have, further North, the “snowshoe hare”.
saktimari
August 7, 2014 at 6:11 pm
Fantastyczne zdjęcia …beautiful picture……. indyka i zająca …. królika już u Ciebie widziałam …..pisklęta indyka bardzo ładne…..jak każde dzieci …. pozdrawiam sedecznie…happy day.. 🙂 🙂 🙂
derwandersmann
August 8, 2014 at 1:39 am
Dziękuję bardzo, Mari