In the midst of all the political turmoil, this happened:

[MineralMan]

My wife and I were sitting in the living room after dinner yesterday. As we often do, we were watching the parade of animals coming to our bird feeder, suet blocks and bird bath.

Yesterday evening, though, we got a treat. A female wild turkey escorted her three poults up to feed under the bird feeder. It is the first turkey who has shown up in our neighborhood. Even our kitty was amused as it sat on a little table next to the window to observe.

It took my mind off the horrors of the day.

[Zoonart]

1. So special.

I have been watching the hummingbirds dogfight around my feeders.
It really helps relieve the stresses of being woke.

[niyad]

2. how cool!! thank you so much for sharing--we need stories like this to remind us that life is not

without such moments.

[malaise]

3. Lovely

We need more stories like this one

[MineralMan]

4. Both my wife and I look for opportunities to

take in things that are not full of turmoil and stress. Our feeders are often useful that way.

[malaise]

9. My feral cats, plants and flowers fill that spot

and our walking venue is full of a variety of birds..

[MineralMan]

10. Peace!

[Grammy23]

5. We have a couple of bird feeders next to our bay window

By the kitchen table. It is a small pleasure to watch the birdies come for the buffet several times a day. They are all beautiful to me from the tiniest sparrow to the bright red cardinals. We have several neighborhood cats that stroll through our back yard and sometimes stop for a nap. They seem to mostly get along with the birds and squirrels but it is amusing to watch them observing what’s happening in the yard. It is a nice break from the zoo going on in DC. And the critters in our yard are a whole lot more civilized than the ones in DC.

[MineralMan]

6. Watching the birds and squirrels is a great antidote to

political turmoil. They all get along just fine together. Our kitty chatters at them, and clearly would like to go catch them, but she is never outdoors, so she sits and watches with us.

[lagomorph777]

7. I've been seeing a turkey perched on a guard rail along my road to the office.

He seems to have a favorite spot.

[MineralMan]

8. There was a big tom turkey who lived near my favorite

hardware store. He'd parade around the parking lot during mating season, and sometimes attack his reflection on cars. One day, I drove into the lot and there was a woman in a car, with the turkey standing just outside of the driver's side door. The woman was afraid to get out of the car, with a 20 lb. turkey right there. She pointed at it when I parked.

I'm not afraid of wild turkeys, so I marched over there, stamping my feet as I got near the bird. He puffed himself all up, spread his tail feathers and appeared like he was ready for a fight, but I kept coming. When I got about three feet from him, he turned around and scampered away. I guess his bravery ran out.

The woman got out of the car, laughing out loud at the combined display of masculine aggression. I laughed with her.

Too bad there's not video of it. I suspect it was pretty funny.

[Wounded Bear]

11. This thread is useless without pictures...

[MineralMan]

12. I know. I'm sorry, but we didn't snap one.

I was afraid of going to the window with the cell phone. I didn't want to scare them away. If they come back, I'll try.

[Wounded Bear]

13. Oh well, it works for hot celebrities...

[gademocrat7]

14. We have been watching the hummingbirds.

Such beautiful tiny creatures. Love the aerial performances.

[Hortensis]

15. Oh, marvelous. That even tops yesterday afternoon's

little event here. Every once in a while it seems like every bird around comes to party at our birdbath. We're clued in when we glance out the kitchen window and see a lot of birds of various types swooping around the open area out there. Look out over the sink and see birds in and around the bath (where there's usually just one or two at a time) and others waiting on and competing for nearby fence posts and branches. They're all obviously having fun coming together. Party! Never figured out what triggers it.

[BittyJenkins]

16. Wild turkeys are wonderful!

We started having turkeys come around our spot in the nineties. Our first "group" of turkeys consisted of a male, a female and one baby. Now we have at least 100 roaming the hills around us. They are very sweet, we always make sure they have water and they love our compost pile. You just might see more next year!