Eastern Wild Turkeys, Mustatatuck NWR

As I pulled into Batar Cafe, right outside the main gate to Mustatatuck, to grab a bite to eat last week, there were several Wild Turkeys foraging in and around the cafe's large garden. These are young male Eastern Wild Turkeys, as identified by their reddish heads and wattles hanging from their necks, as well as their protruding beards. Although a small percentage of females have beards also. It appears these males have discovered a prime spot to forage for food, with no less than four to five very busy bird feeders, with various birds dropping seeds almost continuously during my visit.

I've seen Wild Turkeys in my outdoor travels before, but these looked quite a bit more robust, although males are normally considerably larger than females. Something tells me these guys have made this cafe garden home what with all of the trees, shrubs and bushes, not to mention the well stocked bird feeders. For all of you folks along the eastern seaboard, and all of the northeast, including my friends and coworkers at my corporate office which is situated in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a mere 100 miles from the seashore, I'm praying for you and hoping Sandy doesn't do major damage. Although from what I've seen on the news so far, it appears some significant damage has already been done and there may be more to come with this evening's high tide. I can't recall when in my life I'd heard reports of two major earthquakes and a tsunami along the Pacific corridor and a major hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean, all reported within a 48 hour period. It's been an eventful weather weekend. Perhaps Mother Nature will calm down soon. ENJOY!