10 replies to this topic

[GrizzlyAdman]

Friday morning 6:45 a.m. and I spotted something I had never seen in the park before. Walking along the side of the road near the alluvial fan was this turkey. After getting some shots, I was heading towards the Fall River entrance, and not 5 minutes after sighting the turkey and about a mile away, I saw turkey number 2 !! Park staff I talked to said there was another sighting about a week ago and surmised that they were moving into the area. Way cool to see not one but two. Anybody else seen them in the park?







Here you can find a 3.6 MB quicktime clip of my FOWL encounter.


I hope the rest of you had a meaningful Good Friday and have a Happy Easter today.

[Aaron]

Interesting encounter!

--Aaron
(Happy Easter everyone!! )

[GLENNinPA]

I haven't seen them in the park, but I see them in my backyard a lot.

[John]

Excluding a ranger I met once, I have never met a turkey in RMNP.

[DeeCeeM]

Yeah, I've only seen the two-legged variety, too.

(But I've seen an awful lot of them, usually trying to sneak up on an elk.)

[misssilly]

I saw a few turkeys along 34 in the canyon this past fall/winter. :)

Jen

[weatherbe]

Hey Grizz, we spent almost 2 decades in CO and hiked extensively, including RMNP, and never saw a wild turkey. That really surprized me. Great pics and enjoyed the video too. You did a nice job "shooting" the turkey. Surprised you weren't craving a T-sandwich, along with stuffing and rolls, when you left the park ...

Weather

[R from A]

Those are neat shots - I'm glad you shared them, Grizz. I have not seen wild turkeys in RMNP either...although I know around here they are adapting well, spreading out and becoming very common, so I'm not surprised they're doing the same thing out there. We see them all the time in our woods, in our yard, and even one last year that ran up the driveway and stood in our front garden for a while.

As far as the other topic in the thread, the two-legged turkeys I always see are the people who pick wildflowers, walk right past the "restoration area - stay off" signs, or intentionally spook wildlife. I usually try to mind my own business, but when I see people commit these offenses I confront them - and they usually act like I'm the turkey for saying something.

[R from A]

File this one under "irony", but the second I submitted my post above, I looked outside and saw a wild turkey foraging for food behind our house.

[GrizzlyAdman]

I know what you mean about the two legged variety. I, too prefer to MYOB, but have, on occasion been there, done that and got the same response.

Especially when I've been patiently waiting and watching for the right opportunity on a wildlife shot and some rubes drive up and get out with their barking dog and blasting stereo and the animal spooks and moves away. My hour or two invested goes right down the tubes.

One of the more humorous (and at the same time aggravating) pix, which I can't locate right now, is of visitors feeding squirrels right next to a sign saying do not feed the wildlife! I've collected stories from rangers at parks all over the west of the 'two legged turkeys' from the shallow end of the gene pool doing things that could result in 'natural selection.'

[Rita Johnston]

2 Years ago, I was hiking with my niece and nephew to Bridal Veil Falls. We came across a hen turkey that had about 4 babies trailing her. I have it all on video. I come from Kansas, and they're all over here, I didn't think too much about seeing them in RMNP since I see them all the time here. It was a really neat experience.