#turkeys
Local turkeys doing their thing.
I can’t even begin to explain how supremely unconcerned they are by all the passersby. The first one is not using a zoom at all, they really are just one foot off the path… or shortly after these pictures, actually on the path, during a time of busy foot-traffic (of the human variety). I suspect these might be the grown-up poults from this past spring, who were raised just a few feet away from this, under some convenient rhododendron bushes. There is a pair of them who are almost daily sights, but this is the first time I’ve seen this many of them here in a while.
It’s really interesting (to me) because this establishment of an urban turkey population is pretty much entirely an in-the-last-15-years thing. They didn’t used to be here, certainly not in these numbers. (There was a point during the pandemic when one of my colleagues encountered a flock of 40 of them in the middle of a nearby major street.) Then they moved in and have never looked back. (Turkeys are classified as game birds, and so legally their population can be managed – unlike for example Canada geese – but they can’t be hunted outside of a regulated hunting season. One hopes there are restrictions on how they can be hunted in dense urban areas, though. I can’t actually find that any of the towns around here have turkey-management policies? I’ll have to look into it. What I do find on various town websites is pages with advice to residents on how to live alongside wild animals, including turkeys (and coyotes).
I wish there was better light on their feathers, because I think that they’re so pretty – all shimmering copper and green.
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Came face to face with a mother turkey and a LOT of little poults at work today! (Like, seriously, I was 3 feet from her. The stone in the foreground is the top of a wall, so she was eye-level with me up on a terrace. I had heard the babies and thought it was a different kind of bird nest, and was looking around for it, when I turned around and whoops, there they were.)
I felt bad for her, she had picked what she thought was a sheltered position but she was right by a high-traffic area, and was kinda on edge. I hope she remains largely undisturbed. I had a feeling she might be raising her babies nearby (a turkey has done so in that area for the past several years, but she wasn’t under the bushes I thought she would be; but this is quite near that.
Anyway, admire the way she got all her poults to get underneath her! (In the end none were visible any more.)
I hope she hunkered down and ignored all of the events going on nearby. (Not that she isn’t going to just take all of those babies right out into the open to look for bugs anyway, during the day. I’ve posted pics of these turkeys before and they are usually extremely unconcerned with all of the human traffic around them.)
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Snurkies (snow turkeys).
My brother and I are going to be posting bi-weekly flock time videos (inspired by @theramseyloft) of the turkeys and chickens. My camcorder isn’t the best quality and my skills are limited but I hope it’s enough to brighten someone’s day a little bit.
teenage mutant ninja turkeys. @moonlit_stalchild — #thanksgiving2018 #thanksgiving #thanksgivingpost #bestfriends #bestfriendgoals #bestwitchesforever #bestfriends5ever #snapchatfilters #turkeys #mutantturkey #snapchat #gothgirlshavemorefun
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqiy8jEgDT6/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1fua0ie5fbsay
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EXCUSE ME.
Taylor Zakhar Perez was MADE for the role of Alex Claremont-Diaz because if not then what the heck is this
This man has been auditioning for Alex for years.
In celebration of American Thanksgiving, today’s post is:
Guardian of Turkeys by Charles Angrand, 1881
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…
Giving thanks by taking life is nothing to celebrate
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Put yourself in their place. Which one would you be thankful for?-
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Learn how to have a vegan Thanksgiving at http://www.BiteSizeVegan.org/Thanksgiving (link in bio today)
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Included videos: Sandra & Saoirse the turkey from @edenvegansanctuary in Ireland; my live stream from a turkey slaughterhouse in Iowa, USA
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#vegan #veganthanksgiving #turkeys #compassion #animallover#thanksgiving #veganism #holiday #turkey #dinner #thanksgivingdinner #thanks #turkeyday #food #foodporn #holidays #family #friends #love #instagood #happythanksgiving #celebrate #stuffing #feast #thankful #blessed #fun #familytime #bitesizevegan #guide
https://www.instagram.com/bitesizevegan/p/BqfqcfUhiCl/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1wlsrgzl0p3zg
From Friendly Animals, published in 1905 by McLoughlin Bros., Inc.
Today is the first day of fall!
Bring on the cooler weather, crunchy leaves, crisp mornings, sweaters, rich smells of damp earth and autumn mushrooms, hot drinks, riotous oranges and reds across the mountains, scruffy new birds and scruffy old birds, and the anticipation of hunkering down to rest, to reflect, to rejoice in our friends and loved ones. I will sing the praises of Fall as long as I have a voice, and I hope this annual turning of the season brings you great joy as well.
#fall #love #refreshed #renewed #rest #throwback #turkeys #wildturkey #autumn #leaves #orange #red #oak #art #illu #illustration #drawing #painting #artist #nature #natureartist #bird #birdartist #artistsoninstagram
#clientwork #rangerrickjr #kidart #educuation #scienceeducation
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUIMOcbrZsa/?utm_medium=tumblr
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march 29
well lads, spring is here. i’ve got nine baby birds on my porch and just as many kits in the nest box behind me.
someone needs to tell the weather to catch up, though.
like, it’s been nice and warm all week. i was in california for part of it, but at worst it seems to have only rained. temps in the high 50s and mid 60s, sun giving me energy to do things like fix the water lines, clean up a little in the barn, start cleaning out the filthy cages, and bring home three new rabbits.
(here’s one of them. her name is la niña)
and then it…snows? just out of nowhere? while i’m in the middle of finishing up my last four culls? and then it hails all night and snows this morning? the weather here is something else. the good news is, it’s sunny today, and even though it was a bit colder than usual, i wasn’t needing the snow coat for the chores.
so, what’s the updates? well. i have one litter of rabbits that are a week or so old now, and three due on the 31st. on friday i went with my roommate and AQF and bought six turkeys (two BB white, two BB bronze, and two BB black,) and three geese (mystery! probably just white pilgrims though.) the hens have started laying, but the muscovy ducks, to my knowledge, haven’t starting brooding yet. i’m trying to get the geese to set their eggs but so far no luck, though they are making nests and laying in them…just not really brooding yet. we’ve sequestered them into the old garden plot though, to make sure they’re accessible.
one of the geese, a gander named naruto, was being bullied by the others after the death of his husband (sasuke, of course,) so he was released from the garden and has paired up with helga the pekin duck, the last remainder of AQF’s ducks she’d had last year before we decided they were not for us. it’s too sweet to separate them, so for now naruto and his tiny oblivious wife live on
(turklings of various ages)
additionally, a chicken got caught in the pigeon coop and laid an egg, which greta and leftovers have adopted it, dutifully sitting on this strange giant egg and NOT laying any of their own despite my begging.
i still have things to do, though, before i can really be ready for spring. i need to build the last few racks and put cages on them, pressure wash the dirty cages and get them ready for growouts, but unfortunately my wisdom teeth have begun to rebel and at least i need to get them out. so that’s my wednesday, an hour of semi-consciousness and a few days of drug-induced coma and hopefully i am not too miserable. i’m not worried about the surgery or the pain, i’m just the world’s biggest weenie and hate not being able to eat. hopefully my partner can come up with a variety of ways to make mashed potatoes for me…
but that’s it from me. see you on the flipside, when i have the normal amount of teeth again.
