...10 fresh chicks.
They must have hatched in the nearby wood.
This summer we've hosted only two groups: a hen and lone teenage, and another group of hen and two teenagers. Larger flocks with several hens and a dozen youngsters were the norm in previous years.
I figure it's the irrigated grass and the spillage from the bird feeders that convince turkey to make this home. Once they settle here, they wander no farther than several hundred yards from the house, march by the back door 5 or 6 times a day.
Yesterday morning out the office window...
...there are only 9 chicks.
The chicks are tiny and resemble a swarm of insects. Mom moves at a glacial pace, head erect, looking for trouble, while the chicks fight their way through the jungle of grass. They will stray up to 20 feet away from Mom. A liquid murmur from Mom, and peeps from the chicks, keep the band together.
When she occasionally stops to peck herself tthe babies run and gather at her beak to see what's she's found.
Yesterday afternoon, from the kitchen window...
...down to 8 chicks.
I've seen her rest in the grass, puffed up like a butterball, the chicks nowhere to be found. They were huddled underneath!
This morning we count 7.
[UPDATE: two hours later, she's down to 6]
Hawk? Fox? Coyote? House cat?
This little family is painfully helpless. I could step out the door this moment and pick them up, one by one, and put them in a grocery bag.
[UPDATE: day later, there are still 6 chicks. (Five are burrowed into her feathers.)]
[UPDATE: Sept 5th, 4 chicks]
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