A wild turkey surprise

Wild Turkey1 (adult male southwestern)

I’ll admit I pass the hour driving to Arkansas’ state capital looking for birds. Typically, I’ll look for hawks, ducks and geese. I just never expected to add a Wild Turkey to the list!

I spotted this Wild Turkey, an adult male southwestern, earlier today near the only section of the trip that’s swampy. He was just walking along in the patch of grass between the road and the swamp like he had business to attend to in the small town that edges the swamp. It was random, but definitely worth the time to stop and take pictures.

Wild Turkey2

Photo essay: 1st CBC

Golden-Crowned Kinglet
Golden-Crowned Kinglet

I participated in my very first Christmas Bird Count (CBC) Saturday. It was pretty fun, especially since it allowed me to tour the restricted areas of the White River National Wildlife Refuge.

My group did not discover any rare or unusual birds, however, I was able to view two firsts for me: The Golden-Crowned Kinglet and Wild Turkeys. We also viewed thousands of Mallards, Northern Shovelers, Ruddy ducks, and geese in the refuge’s sanctuary.

Here’s some more pictures from the day:

Wild Turkey
Wild Turkey
1-5 (3) Bamboo
Bamboo, an invasive species that is spreading on the refuge.
1-5 (4) Mallards, Ross, Snow and Speckled Bellies Geese2
There were plenty of Mallards as well as Ross, Snow and Speckled Bellied Geese.
1-5 (5) Mallards, Ross, Snow and Speckled Bellies Geese1
There were plenty of Mallards as well as Ross, Snow and Speckled Bellied Geese.
White-Throated Sparrow
White-Throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Song Sparrow — I saw plenty at the refuge, however, this particular one was at the Stuttgart airport late Saturday afternoon.