Who says birding isn't a contact sport! ... great story!! On Apr 16, 11:01am, Bart Hutchinson wrote: > Subject: Turkey Attack > I was birding at work this morning and checking out a stand of trees > that earlier in the week hosted at least 10 Palm Warblers (that was > quite a sight, but that's another story). This morning it was pretty > quiet, so I was just standing there waiting for something to happen > when I saw a Wild Turkey come out of the woods. It was heading > towards me so I just stayed still - I thought maybe it didn't see me > or thought I was a pole or tree or something. The bird kept walking > closer and closer until it was only 3 feet away. I now realized that > he did in fact see me. > > It then started bobbing it's head back and forth at me and came even > closer. At this point I started fearing for my life. I began > backing away but the turkey kept following me and occasionally > throwing it's head and neck out at me. I tried to scare it by > raising my arms and waving them and yelling while walking towards it. > The bird was not phased. Much like the Energizer bunny, it kept > coming and coming. Now it was his turn to step up the attack - he > jumped into the air and swung it's wing at me. While it didn't hit > me, it came close enough that I could have grabbed it if was a little > more brave or more stupid. > > We went back and forth like this for a minute or two - me running at > it and the bird jumping up and trying to hit me with his wing. I > guess he realized that I was pretty wimpy because it again became > more agressive and ran right at me! I started running and it > followed. I ran around a utility pole and it followed - it was crazy > - I was being chased around a pole by a turkey! I began laughing at > the absurdity of the situation, but I still kept running. > Eventually, the turkey gave up and went his own way - I guess he > figured I wasn't much of a threat. > > Other birds of intrest: > > Bobwhite - 2 > Sharpshin - 2 > Coopers - possible > N. Parula - 3 - probably more. I heard a lot of singing > Prairie - 1 heard > Pine - 2 seen, many heard > Palm - 1 > > Safe in my office, > Bart >-- End of excerpt from Bart Hutchinson -- Todd Magin Hughes Network Systems magin@hns.com 11717 Exploration Lane (301) 428-1668 Germantown, Md. 20876