The wild turkeys are back.

Yesterday I looked out and saw nine of them foraging in the orchard. We ran them out last summer when our back porch became overrun by turkeys and turkey poop as they hung out, day in and day out, underneath our bird feeders. (A few days with a loop of electric fence got the message across.)

Still, I was sad when they left altogether, so it was fun to see them again.

And I made a serendipitous discovery. Walking outside with my camera, I inadvertently split the flock in half. Five, probably including one or two matriarchal hens, headed uphill and across the driveway. The other four headed down into the pasture. And then they realized I was in the middle.

Turns out turkeys really don’t like being separated. The older hens stopped and turned around and approached the driveway and began to call to the missing youngsters, who stopped, turned around and called back. And then they, too, began moving towards me.

Wild turkeys, even these pretty acclimated ones, are tough to convince to pose for photos. Typical turkey photos show way too many turkey backsides as the subjects quickly flee.

But because I had split the flock, I had lot of opportunity to shoot turkey portraits.

Live and learn.

photo: Wild turkeys, 2010