Wildlife at our place has been prolific lately, with what seems to be autumn migrations in full swing. I was very surprised one rainy morning to open the curtains and find 14 female turkeys in the front yard. A large flock like this had two males with them last year, but this group was all girls. I stepped outside with a slice of bread to see if they would like a bite. Only two were brave enough to come up and see what I was offering. They ate all the bites I gave them while the others just kept an eye on the action.
Then the turkeys wandered down to the meadow to scavenge bugs and acorns. It was pouring rain this day, but that didn’t bother these gals.
They mingled around for a while, digging for bugs.
Then they strolled over the driveway into the forest.
On this sunny day, our regular visitor turkey we call Clarence was at the veranda doing his cluck-purr hoping for a handout, while a female deer worked on my hostas.
I am hoping to get the deer used to us, so when I saw two nibbling the hostas one morning, I slowly came out to the veranda and talked softly to them.
These two watched me warily, but didn’t bolt.
They moved off slowly, watching me the entire time.
The hummingbirds came by almost every day for the past couple of weeks.
A smaller flock of 6 female turkeys with one strutting male visited recently. I only got five of the girls in this photo. They were pecking around for seeds while the male puffed and preened for them. They weren’t interested. But they did eat the offered bread bites I threw to them.
I love watching the males puff up and strut. This one has new feathers growing in to replace some lost on his tail plumage.
Here I got all six of the ladies, while he kept showing off.
Titmice and goldfinches continue to share the feeder, with the new seed tube and bigger perches. The goldfinches are beginning to get a bit dull, changing to their winter frocks.
Chickadees live here year round.
I have seen the cardinals too, mostly at dusk when it is hard to get a picture. The male was feeding the female earlier this week, such a sweet thing to watch. A rose-breasted grosbeak stopped by, we haven’t seen one of these since last fall. I think he was posing for the picture, as he cocked his head a bit sideways. Then he went back to stuffing his beak full of seeds.
The hairy woodpecker has figured out the new seed holder. His beak is long enough to reach inside and snag a bite.
A mother deer brought her two fawns to graze the meadow just a few days ago.
They are growing up from the time I saw them in the spring. They are bigger but still have their spots.
They were really cute, flicking their ears up as I softly told them they were adorable.
I stood quietly, and mom lowered her head to graze again, while keeping an eye on me.
She headed back into the forest short time later, but it was progress.
Another hummingbird buzzed by my head, so I got her picture too.
I almost got a photo of the fox again as he was up very near the house. But just as I reached for the camera, DH noticed Clarence on the lawn and he thought the fox was stalking the turkey. So DH opened up the door and began waving at Clarence hoping to make him take flight, and the fox got spooked instead. The fox ran back into the woods, and Clarence was safe for another day. Of course, he got a handout that day too. Just yesterday, a flock of Canadian geese went by, honking and flying in their V formation. We saw a group of them while walking the Oklawaha trail this week, too.
If you missed the post on the Carolina Hurricane Quilts, click HERE to see the block and the plan. For now, I hope you can make some blocks, but please do not send them until later in October or early November as my studio is covered up with Autumn Jubilee right now. I’ll have an address on an update post in November after Autumn Jubilee. Ideally, your blocks and your friends blocks can be made into a finished quilt, and I’ll have a different address for completed quilts in November.
Are you seeing any migrating wildlife in your area?
From My Carolina Home 
Loved your photo’s from today’s post – it must be wonderful to have these animals walking past your home every day 🙂
I have seen wild turkeys in the pre dawn hours in my commute. I have seen many wild hogs too, although they are not migratory….just nuciances. One morning I thought I saw pheasants, but figured out those were actaully clumps of grass in the shape of a pheasant.
You really got some excellent pictures. It was almost like some of them were posing for you. I also enjoyed the comments below each pic. Thanks for sharing your part of the world.
A few years ago we had a flock of turkeys that would frequent our yard, but they all seem to have disappeared now, likely thanks to the hunting. Makes me a bit sad, I used to enjoy seeing them. Cute photo of the grosbeak and other visitors. We had a fox on our deck one winter day and managed to get some great photos. I’m saving them to share with a fox quilt that I hope to make someday. My Carolina blocks are stacking up!
Thank you for sharing all your wildlife photos. The strutting turkey with his tailfeathers spread to attract the females was great.
Loved seeing the photos of hummingbirds and deer. I have many of the same critters.
Thanks for hosting a place for busy quilters to send blocks for the Carolinas hurricane relief. Will watch for notice to send in November. Simple, scrappy pattern anyone can do.
Your turkey photos are amazing, Carole! What fun to have them right in your yard like that! We’ve had a lot of bird and squirrel activity in our yard this week, but the birds are all pretty typical of this area. We’ve been hoping to see some goldfinches on their way through, but not yet!
Carole, this looks like our yard. We have discovered that turkeys love to be out in the rain! We have three fawns that have been frolicking in our front yard! Both moms are nearby! I enjoyed your post
You have massive turkeys in Carolina! We see some female turkeys here in PA and they act like they own the place! I get such a kick out of them! Our foxes are hunters and we see them get a squirrel now and then. Our Heavenly Father has given us such much beauty in this world. Thanks for sharing!
Good morning Carole,
So enjoy the wild life here too, don’t have quite as much as you though. The deer that come up into my yard are so close to the house that they hear the click of the door handle and they are very alert then to any movement so they stare at the door so I don’t go outside and scare them off. Sometimes they run off to the vacant lot next to mine and eat the honeysuckle when its blooming and some of the other foliage
My hummingbirds are still coming around every day, have a feeder in both the front porch and the back patio so they keep me busy with making their sugar water. Heard some Canadian geese this morning fly over the house, there is a small lake near here they like to gather at. Use to have a fox here but haven’t seen it in over 2 years and don’t have any turkeys .
Planning on doing some sewing today so best get started, don’t like to wait till later and be in a hurry cause that’s when the mistakes are made and I don’t like ripping out.
Have a great day and laugh a lot.
Phyllis Smith
Watching wildlife is so entertaining! We have rabbits, yesterday one was playing in the yard, it even rolled on its back in the grass! Yesterday there were deer strolling down the street in the middle of the afternoon, on there way to our neighbor’s to eat apples. 🙂
I think you live in a piece of heaven. What wonderful wildlife. Thanks for sharing.
These are awesome! Thank you!
I agree! Your pictures are beautiful and the moments captured are a treasure. I could sit and watch them all morning right along side of you. 🙂
PS: I love your new blog profile picture.
I live in a college town in Iowa, now almost in it’s center but still far enough away from main campus. My two daughters live close by. My older daughter and her family have visiting female turkeys every morning. I don’t have turkeys yet but lots of deer. I feed the ruby-throated hummingbirds who have been coming daily since late July. They also like my zinnias, butterfly bushes and Mexican sunflowers. They are migrating south now as our nights are getting so much colder. We have cardinals all year and they like the safflower seeds in the feeder. The gold finches like the seeds from the coneflowers. We haven’t had a killing frost yet, but the nights are in the upper 30’s so it won’t be long. I will so miss my flower gardens and planters on the deck. Now that I’m older I don’t enjoy winter and snow like I did when I was young. Now the only upside to winter is that I get much more sewing done since the outside doesn’t call to me as it does the rest of the year.
Thank you for sharing pictures of your sewing, wildlife and decor. Those posts are a bright spot in my day.
Hello Carole, All of your photos are so enjoyable to see and read about! Nature is such an amazing gift that brings such joy to everyone. We have not been seeing or even hearing many birds at all yet, with the fires still going on. Thankfully, we did receive rain last night and it is expected today also. Everyone in our area is breathing a small sigh of relief, but praying the rains continue. Down the road from us are several open fields where we have been lucky enough to see both deer with little ones, some with spots and some that are fading. We even got a great look at a very young buck who is just getting his antlers and he was standing so proud, it was so beautiful, yet so fun at the same time. Makes you think of how teenage boys show off for girls and all the laughing and giggling that happens when the poor boy trips over his own to feet and hits the ground only to jump right up like that did not happen. LOL. Plus, we also have several groups of turkeys. Kevin always says he is going to have one of them for dinner, but they have been in our yard many times and he just laughs and says he did not have the right aim or time. He would never harm them and he knows I know it, but it is fun to tease about it. Alright enough. Thank you so much for sharing your lovely photos and fun writings with us. By the way, I love your Hostas! Sure wish I could ever get any of mine to even grow! LOL. Have a fantastic day!
You are so lucky to have so many beautiful visitors! I only get rabbits and birds.
I love all your animals, but especially the wild turkeys. We’ve seen only a couple in the four years we’ve been here.
The grosbeak is a good bird. I have not seen one in person before. I noticed the geese flying over last week, too. Fall for sure! I know that this winter is supposed to be a good one for conifer feeding birds since there are not many pinecones in Canada this year, the birds are going searching for food far out of their areas. However, I just haven’t had time to go birding lately.
Fantastic pictures of the wildlife around you. I live in suburbia, very close to a school. Do the kids walking by my house count as wildlife???
Your photos are lovely. I think our hummers have left for the year and I’ve heard the geese overhead for about two weeks. Otherwise our wildlife is year-round, rabbits, squirrels (both gray and red), chipmunks, groundhogs, an occasional skunk and the ever-present deer. I wish I could view them as charming visitors, but they are over-populated in our village and very destructive to the landscape. They eat everything in sight, even the plants they are supposed to avoid. I’ll be downsizing my gardens and not replacing shrubs due to the damage. They are also fearless and don’t bolt until you are almost on top of them.
Much cooler this weekend, but a slight warm-up due next week. Will be starting my Carolina blocks soon.
Pat
I always love the wildlife photos! Poor male turkey-I’ll bet his ego was bruised a bit, LOL Your wildlife looks a lot like ours, and talking to the deer does seem to help around here-DH does it a lot. But I am jealous as we have not seen our fox for years.
The turkeys are hilarious
I love the deerz.
We have a lot of those adorable red foxes here
Looks like they all fell very welcome at your place. Lovely photos, too.
I am always delighted with the pics of the hummingbirds. We have only seen them a couple of times on our visits.
Love your photos how blessed you are hummingbirds.,Deer, wild turkeys. Lucky lady.