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Borrego Springs, CA

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Have you ever met a bleached blonde turkey?

Along about 10:30 this morning Bridget and I headed out in the refuge truck to do litter patrol.  Neither of us mind this assignment as it gets us out on the roads of the refuge, and you never can tell what you are going to see.  Bridget had spent the early morning helping Janice clean the pit toilets on the refuge.  That’s an onerous task that I have thankfully pretty much been able to avoid. 

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As we made our way down County Road 26, we passed the beaver lodge in one of the ponds and caught this white-tailed doe making her way along the edge.  We’ve only seen the resident beaver once at work on his lodge, but we always stop to take a look just in case he’s out and about.  It was a nice calm day to be outside working.

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There was also a report that one of the refuge maps had been stolen from one of the boat launch areas, so we checked all of those as well.  At the Waboose Lake boat launch, the area was alive with Compton Tortoiseshell butterflies.

When we stopped at the North Tamarac Lake boat launch, sure enough, the heavy map plaque of the refuge had been removed from the kiosk.  It takes a special kind wrench to remove the screws holding the plaque in place, and it was obvious that it had been carefully removed.  I sure don’t understand why anyone would do such a thing.

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We also found this rather beat up white admiral butterfly resting on some grass seed pods.  It looked like it had some encounters with birds trying to catch it for dinner, but it gave me a nice view of both its upper and lower sides.  These guys get most of their nutrients from mammal scat, puddles, and wet sand or pavement, so that’s how I knew it was probably just resting.

We picked up three five gallons pails full of litter along the refuge roads today.  There were lots of beer and pop cans and several McDonalds/Burger King bags of debris.  Again, I don’t know why folks can’t take their garbage home with them rather than throwing it out the window.

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On our way down Bruce boulevard, we had our encounter of the day.  There was a very pale wild turkey standing along the road amongst the wildflower blooms.  I’ve never see such a light colored wild turkey.  Looked like a bleached blonde to me.

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It had another normally colored companion with it, and we couldn’t figure out why they were hugging the edge of the road so much.  I shut off the motor to the truck, and we just waited.

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Being patient showed us why. Very soon a whole bunch of young ones came out of the tall grasses.  They were of various sizes, so I’m guessing these two moms had banded together.  There is safety in numbers, don’cha know.  The challenge for tonight is for you to spot at least nine baby turkeys (don’t know what they’re called) along the road and in the grass.

Now before you go commenting about blonde turkeys you have known, I just want to say that before I aged and became a Q-tip, I was a natural blonde.  Not sure if I was a turkey or not. I don't know smile   At any rate, bring it on!  I can take a joke.

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                                                                                THE END!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

22 comments:

  1. Turkeys are fascinating birds. Glad these two got together to protect their young.

    I, too, was blonde when younger. I am now a graying calico. Never have added color, never will.

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  2. Some guy probably took the map for a decoration for his ice house, basement man cave, or cabin. Junk? The lazy and thoughtless.

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  3. I can count more them nine if I look at both pictures. But since I am also a "q" tip my eyesight is not what it use to be. I wonder how many of the young chicks will also be "blonde".

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  4. I only counted six babies Judy. When I was teaching Kindergarten I taught my class baby turkeys were called poults.
    I can't believe someone unscrewed the map and took it...the trash doesn't surprise me, but that sure did!

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  5. Incredible - both the blonde and the fact that somebody stole the map. I like the blonde a whole lot better.

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  6. I got seven. That is an interesting turkey- never seen one that light.

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  7. I think this may qualify as the funniest blog title I've ever seen. So far no dumb blonde jokes. Domestic turkeys are totally dumb blonde or not but wild turkeys are quite smart or at least that's been my experience. We had quite a few around the farm woods and fields. As for that sign, I am just dumbfounded. Me me me, nothing but me. If I want it I get it. How did we become such a self centered people?

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  8. I don't understand the mentality of trash-throwers, and that's probably a good thing. Strange-looking bird; might be one for the books. Most of the blond jokes I've heard are too dumb to remember. But, ha ha, when I look in my mirror, I still see a blond, naturally :- ).

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  9. Stealing maps, tossing garbage and they say turkeys are dumb?

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  10. Never seen wild turkeys here. But did have them in the my southern refuges. I still think we should have gone with a wild turkey for our national symbol, rather then then bald eagle. I HATE having to hear a red-shouldered hawk call every time there is a picture of an eagle on TV. Great documentation of a aberant colored turkey. And I failed your test.

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  11. Huh! I came to comments to collect some good blonde jokes but nary a one. Guess we like you too much to poke fun at you.

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  12. hmmm. . .well now I have seen a bleached blonde turkey. . .if only in your pics. . .so interesting! Bet I'll never see wild turkeys again without thinking of this post. . .thanks!

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  13. Gay & Joe's answer is probably correct - poults - but I like to think of them as turklettes!

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  14. Never saw bleached blonde turkey, unless you want to talk about some of those creatures that inhabit beaches in the summertime... :cD

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  15. As I read this post Wayne is listening to a public television show where some guy is telling viewers they may not want to artificially light 1st year pullets to lay eggs because it can cause prolapse. Heartbreaking what we do to try to make Mother Nature bend to our will. When we had chickens they ran the farm (it kept the insect population somewhat under check too), went in the barn at night to get their feed I left them and hide from predators, and then out they went again in the morning to face the day. No lights on to make them lay more through the winter, we just dealt with decreased output and had happy, healthy hens and delicious eggs. I love this time of year in the Midwest when the birds are out with all their young. Trying not to think about the sign stealer. Don't they know how hard money is to come by for these agencies to replace that sign?

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  16. That albino doesn't seem to have albino offspring! The trash and the stolen sign! Dastardly!

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  17. Nice clicks.Keep up the good work :)

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  18. I have so many blonde jokes on file, I would not know where to begin:) I guess if I saw that pale turkey, I would have assumed that it might have been ill?

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  19. …. awww little baby turkeys…. and well, yeah… I'm trying to catch up with m'blog reading and the title of your post …. bleached blonde turkey … was a … what HAS she done now.. reaction. .Q-tip.. HAHAaaaaaa

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