with my girlfriend Taylor to look for Wild Turkey chicks (properly called "poults"). I've seen these little guys in previous years, but Taylor had never had the chance. She love ducklings (who doesn't?) so I figured that finding a clutch of poults would really be a treat!
Blendon Woods is one of the best birding locations in Franklin County. The birds that the park is best known for are the American Black Ducks that spend the winter in large numbers and the Wild Turkeys that are in the park year-round. I've spoken to the naturalists at the park who estimate that there are at least 150 turkeys in the park! In spring, the toms can actually get pretty aggressive, much like Canada Geese. Most of the time they're fairly skittish, but they can easily be observed at the park's many feeders. In the early part of the summer, lucky visitors can see the newly hatched poults following their mothers through the woods.
I got out of the car near the nature center and immediately had a Ruby-throated Hummingbird buzz right past my head! Heartened by this good sign, Taylor and I started out on the Sugarbush trail. This is a great trail for seeing a variety of birds because it winds through so many different habitats. Unfortunately for us, the trail is not paved and was therefore flooded. We decided to take our chances with the Lake Trail, which is paved but more heavily traveled. Turkeys generally try to steer their poults away from people, so I was a little worried about our odds.
The thick woods made birding difficult, but I did pick up the songs of several species, including Indigo Buntings and Eastern Towhees. We tried to avoid stopping for too long to avoid the mosquitos, which are obviously thriving in the wet weather. Walking past a large open field, I heard Field Sparrows singing and saw a pair of Eastern Bluebirds visiting a nest box. We checked the first of a pair of blinds, which has a bird feeder outside. The feeder seemed to have little more than House Sparrows, Northern Cardinals, and Brown-headed Cowbirds. A large wasp buzzing around inside made Taylor decide that the other blind was a better option, so we walked over.
From the second blind, I was able to get a good view of the pond. It was pretty well filled with lily pads, so there wasn't much on the water. A scan of the pond edge revealed a family of Wood Ducks though! A hen was leading five ducklings through the water, which was a lot of fun to watch. A mother Mallard was also present with a few youngsters in tow. I handed the binoculars off to Taylor so that she could see the ducklings. While she watched them, I thought I saw a duck walking just under the blind windows into the bushes. As I tried to get a better angle, I saw an adult turkey pop her head up. It was a mother turkey with poults!
They ducked into the woods before I could tell Taylor, but it looked like they were headed to the other blind. We carefully moved back to the original spot, and as we approached I saw the turkey and her brood at the feeder! I snapped a couple photos just in case they ran away at our presence, and then we went into the blind. From the window slit, we could see the mother turkey and four young birds feeding on the ground beneath the feeder. We could barely contain ourselves in the face of their awkward cuteness! I made several videos before the family headed into the woods.
Unfortunately, as we left the blinds we saw a house cat wandering around. This is an enormous pet peeve (no pun intended) of mine. House cats in the United States kill between 1 and 4 billion birds each year. Billion. With a "B." Most cat owners are only aware of the handful that the animals bring home to their owners, which is about 30% of what they kill. Places like Blendon Woods are for some reason popular locations for depositing unwanted pets. These cats generally spend their time killing everything they can until they are themselves eaten by coyotes. Hopefully, the poults will be okay.
Back to the positive part of our trip though! Taylor and I decided to check the nature center feeders before we left the park. The nature center has close to a dozen feeders and a small stream, with huge windows from which to observe the birds and other wildlife that visit. We saw a deer rather close, looking either for a drink or some birdseed. The real highlight for me was a trio of hummingbirds, including one male with a bright red gorget (throat)! I talked with the naturalist for awhile about some of his recent birding destinations. I might need to check some of them out in the near future!
If you're in Ohio, it's the perfect time of year for finding young turkeys and many other fledgling birds. You can view the full list of the birds I recorded at Blendon Woods here.
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