Wild Turkeys in Rocky

Not really a hike, but definitely about local wildlife. We were on Bear Lake Road yesterday geared up to try to photograph a sunset, and instead came across a rafter of wild turkeys practically on the road.

We pulled off, quickly changed lenses and then got as many shots in as we could with the low light and nervously retreating turkeys. Susan was more patient than I was and got the best shots. Here are a few of the best of what we got (click on slideshow below to see full size web album/images).



I went back to previous Estes List emails about wild turkeys and I'm guessing this rafter is the one often seen around Giant Track mountain. We were less than two miles west of Giant Track. There were probably at least a dozen (got 10 in one photo), and one of them was the beautiful gold color previously reported.

Susan did some research and believes these could be Merriam's wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo merriami)
http://www.nwtf.org/conservation/bulletins/bulletin_04_5-20-09.pdf
or
http://tinyurl.com/yc4mljc

This PDF has a US map with ranges of other wild turkeys.