turkeys

This time last night I was chasing a turkey through the woods! I went to lock them in and the male stag was missing. I had left it late and it was pretty dark. Just to the back of the turkey pen is a wood with a sharp drop to a goit and 10' tall waterfall. It is waist deep in nettles and thistles. I heard a rustle and of course it was somewhere in the undergrowth. It broke cover and I chased it towards the pen but it couldn't fathom how to get through the gatehole. A couple of owls had heard the commotion and were circling overhead calling out and the waterfall was 'fair-drumming' because of all the rain we've had.

This bird is huge and quite scarey. I am very cautious when I approach with feed. Turkeys have red necks and faces and when they get frightened or nervous they go paler until they are a deathly greeny-white. They also fluff up their feathers so they look twice as big. At this stage they will attack.

I didn't realise until last night that they were also luminous. This turkey was frightened and everytime it broke cover you could see its head and neck glowing white in the dark! I spent about quarter of an hour running round in circles and wading through the nettles until I gave up, went back to the house and asked Dave to come and help! I cornered it and he grabbed its neck and hung on tight. It flapped and screeched and it took all his strength to keep hold of it and put it back in its shed.

Saturday Night's concert at Fairweather Green - A full house and it was lovely to get a thank you email first thing the next morning. Dave's son liked Eddie Lawler's songs and has not stopped singing since!