Hunting Turkey

I decided to go looking for the turkey that Catman saw yesterday.  My friend Jody said she had also seen it in the same area.   I didn't have high hopes, but there he/she was!

I didn't want to get too close.  I've seen enough clips on Funniest Home Videos to know that wild turkeys are very dangerous!  I did not want to be attacked, or worse, see myself on said TV show.   I'm pretty sure the neighbors across the street from where the turkey has taken up residence have their video cameras at the ready, just waiting for someone like me to to come along and help them win $10,000, and a trip to Walt Disney World!

However, when I got home and had a chance to look at these pictures on the computer, I started wondering.  The head looks more like a turkey vulture.  No waddle visible.  I started looking at pictures of wild tom turkeys and hens, turkey vultures and black capped chickadees.  I don't know why the chickadees popped up in my search, but they sure are cute!  I love them at my feeders.  But back to the turkeys.

Or vultures.

I called my brother-in-law, Tom.  He's a hunter.  He hunts wild turkeys.   I sent him the pictures and he will take a look and give me his opinion, but they were on the way out the door, so we'll just have to wait a bit.

In the meantime, this is a small stream that flows out of the lagoon.  I'm guessing the turkey/turkey vulture/chickadee lives here.  See the culvert at the end?  This runs under the houses back there and under several more blocks of houses until it empties into a swampy area behind the 5-8 Club.   http://www.5-8club.com/    The 5-8 has been around since 1928.   Their claim to fame is the Juicy Lucy, though Matt's Bar  http://www.mattsbar.com/  also claims it.   Both bars have great followings and are Lake Nokomis staples, both on Cedar Avenue.     I grew up at the 5-8.  My dad played softball for them when I was little.  We'd get to go there after games for burgers, and I always got to have a bottle of grape pop.    Funny what you remember.....

UPDATE:  From Hunter Tom:  this is a "Jake".  A young male turkey.  Thanks Tom!