Strange Bird at my Feeder

[Bearcarver]

Strange Bird at my Feeder


I don’t know if I ever posted these two pics before. I don’t think I did, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to show them.

We have all kinds of Birds stopping to eat here. Some are here every day.
However the Turkeys usually come in Flocks of 7 to 37, but they usually just walk around the yard, eat Wineberries on my perimeter, and sometimes clean up the Bird Seed on the ground under my feeders.
However this particular Turkey came here that day all alone, and actually managed to get onto the Deck railing right beside my Big Feeder.

The first thing I noticed was Smokey (My Kitty) was talking (Kitty Talk) at the patio doors, so I went over there to see what was bothering him.

The Pics below will show what I saw.


Bear


Smokey watching the biggest Bird he ever saw!!!

She needs to get up on that pipe and walk out to the feeder:

 

[smokerjim]

Smokey might have his hands (or paws) full with that one.

 

[Scott "Stu" Stewart]

Smokey might have his hands (or paws) full with that one.

Hehe, Smoke that turkey!

 

[WaterRat]

When are you going to show the smoke? :D

 

[Bearcarver]

Smokey might have his hands (or paws) full with that one.

Yup---I think Smokey would get his Butt Kicked in that bout!!

Bear

 

[HalfSmoked]

Ha you let it go? Sure you didn't slide that door open just enough for the barrel to go through?

Warren

 

[SonnyE]

It makes you wonder what thoughts are going through Smokies brain...
Is he thinking dinner thoughts?
Is he plotting how he would manage the confrontation?
Or is Smokey glad to have the window pane as a protection?

I use to feed the birds here. Pretty soon they were leaving poop streaks on the pool fence, and I was hosing off the hard scape daily.
Not to mention them scattering seed and all manner of funny plants coming up.
Then a Humming Bird crashed on the driveway with a broken wing... couldn't save her. But she planted the seed.
I bought 5 small feeders, and put up 3 of them. The afternoon she died, a female hummer showed up and sat at the larger feeder. She fed, looked around, fed more, and looked around. Did this for around 20 minutes, like she was thinking of buying the back yard.
The next day, she showed up, about 5 others did as well. She sat at "her" feeder, while they fed off the other smaller feeders. And it began to grow...
Instead of filling the smaller feeders 3 times a day, every day... I began buying larger feeders. 28 ounce feeders.
As the herd grew, I added more large feeders. I got up to 4 of them, and sometimes filled all of them each day. (That was almost a gallon a day of sugar water. We were nearing a 25 pound sack of sugar a week.

I like feeding these tiny flying jewels (The males are colorful) because they do such tiny poops, and they can be hosed away when needed easily.
One day I decided to try doing a time lapse video of two of the feeders. The light wasn't good enough to catch the color flashes of the males, but it caught the nearly non-stop action.
At the time, during peak feeding, there would be around 60-100 or more birds feeding. Sometimes stacked 3 deep waiting for a certain "flower" to feed from. Like airplanes waiting to land.
They use nectar (sugar water) as energy, and eat tiny bugs like mosquitoes and gnats. One day I was sitting and watching them, one was buzzing in and out near a timber on the patio cover. Such curious behavior got me to slowly advance to see what was going on. The hummer was feasting on a hatching of baby spiders. Good Riddance!

We had some that wintered over in our mild climate. They actually will put on weight to have energy to burn to stay warm. Come Spring (the day after our one day winter) they court and mate. Then the female is entirely on her own to build a nest, lay her eggs, brood them, and the babies take flight in 2 weeks.
When they show up at the feeders, they will fly close to your face to look into your eyes. :)

No pictures, didn't happen. Feeders Abuzz

I like giving nature a place to happen, a sanctuary for them, and balance. Like when I trapped a feral cat eating baby rabbits in our old back yard. I released him behind where I worked, 12 miles from our house.
Sink or swim, deal with the Geese, ducks, and coyotes. But better watch out for the Red Tail Hawks... :eek:

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Oh woah! Rare pictures there Bear! I never seen any turkey come in that close to a house before! Neat to see!

 

[browneyesvictim]

Those darn things are a somewhat of pest around my place. And a LOT of them. They roost in the tall trees behind my house at night. Then they come down and forage bugs around my house early in the morning. They make a lot of racket (especially the toms) and get my boxer dogs all stirred up. They peck loudly at the siding on the house getting the spiders and especially any slugs they can find. Soooo... I resist my urge to harvest any of them. I've never fed them, but we also have a couple of bird feeders they clean around so they return often. I think they are a benefit to have around.

 

[SonnyE]

I wonder if that Turkey was looking at it's own reflection?

 

[zwiller]

Don't know how true it is but I always heard of wild creatures near the house was a sign they are ill or something (not cool for eating). I am pretty much a city boy and never have seen much wildlife. You guys might like this: I like in a small town and house is not far from office. Eat my lunch at home. One time I am returning to work and see a half or dozen peacocks hanging at my neighbors pond. I did a double take. Later I tell the wife and neighbors and NONE of them believe me. I swear to it... Finally a few days later I see in the paper they escaped from some bird show and I get vindicated...

 

[SmokinAl]

Looks like dinner to me!!
Al

 

[idahopz]

Turkeys in my area know no fear. When they flock in the fall they invade our garden and devastate everything. We put up an 8-foot deer fence keeping out that pest, but the turkeys simply flew over the roof to come in to ruin our tomatoes (they peck holes into each tomato). They poop on everything (sometimes there is a poop on every square foot of our yard), and even walk right next to our living room windows to look in to see what we are doing. Would be funny if they did not ruin our garden.

I'd harvest them, but they are so stringy and tough they are awful for a meal.

 

[bregent]

Yeah, I live in the city (Oakland, CA) and they are a big nuisance. If they were good eating, there wouldn't be nearly as many. They roost in the trees behind our house and wake us up in the morning.

 

[zwiller]

WOW. Nuisance?! In the mean time Williams and Sonama wants $150 for "free range" turkeys...

Marianski claims wild fare is best cured. I would try deep fried and also sausage. Probably weisswurst.

 

[browneyesvictim]

Fall Turkeys come for a visit. Can you count the Toms? (Please ignore the landscape construction in progress)

 

[Bearcarver]

Fall Turkeys come for a visit. Can you count the Toms? (Please ignore the landscape construction in progress)

Looks like all 9 are Tom Turkeys. It's hard to tell in the Pics if they are all Gobblers or if some of the smaller beards are Jakes. That's all I got.

Bear

 

[smokerjim]

I also counted 9

 

[Bearcarver]

Hehe, Smoke that turkey!

When are you going to show the smoke? :D

Thanks Guys!!
Well I'll tell you---IMHO a Wild Turkey isn't worth the effort:
The Wings are useless, the Legs are full of slivers & very little meat.
You can pick bones from Fish flesh, but with any Turkey meat (other than the Breast) you have to pick the meat from that which you can't eat.
So IMO the only part worth eating is the Breast, after a LOOOoong time Brining!!

Bear

 

[browneyesvictim]

Yes, nine Turkeys, all of them Toms as far as I can tell, too. You are right Bear, the only question is if any of the smaller ones are actually "Jakes". You can tell by looking closely at their tail feathers- not just by looking at the length of the beard. Adult male "Toms" will have tail feathers that are all the same length, while the younger "Jake" males will have noticeably longer feathers in the middle.

My favorite and easiest way for wild turkey is to JERKY them! I don't pluck or gut my birds, but rather just skin them, snip the wings, then just chisel and carve as much meat off the carcass as you can in the whole. Then slice the breast just like you would carve a turkey. The slivers in the legs are easier to work with and fillet them out when they are raw. I do a simple 4:1 dry brine (don't rinse) rest for pellicle, then smoke .