19 turkey hens just walked through our back yard, accompanied by 1 strutting gobbler. We have had about 7 gobblers off and on all winter, with occasional incursions by hens, but this is the largest number of hens I have seen together. There could be a bumper crop of little turkeys this year.
Beginning last week I have been hearing our now regular annual Red-shouldered Hawks calling at the west side of Brown's Woods and got a brief glimpse of one of them. Turkey Vultures have also shown up in good numbers. I have not seen or heard the Pileated Woodpeckers recently. An Eastern Phoebe showed up yesterday. Two pelicans flew over. Otherwise this has been a pretty uneventful spring season at Brown's Woods so far. Brown's Woods is in West Des Moines. --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/membership.asp. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
