Wild Turkey – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Wild Turkey Images – Happy Thanksgiving 2024

By Mia McPherson|November 28th, 2024|Categories: Birds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: autumn, canyon, close up, desert mountains, fall, fearless, female, foraging, hen, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, portrait, sky island mountains, Stansbury Mountains, turkey, turkeys, Wild Turkey|

Today, I'm sharing Wild Turkey images of foraging hens I found in the Stansbury Mountains of northern Utah because it's Thanksgiving Day. It was a lovely day.

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Spring Wild Turkey Photos With Snow

By Mia McPherson|April 4th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Salt Lake County, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, branches, desert, displaying, female, hen, high key, male, Meleagris gallopavo, mountans, road, sky island mountains, snow, snowstorm, snowy, spring, tom, tree, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, urban, Wild Turkey|

Three years ago by this date I was already taking Wild Turkey photos in the canyons of the sky island mountains of the West Desert of Utah.

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Jaywalking Wild Turkey Pictures

By Mia McPherson|October 23rd, 2022|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: autumn, Box Elder County, desert, fall, female, hen, jaywalking, Meleagris gallopavo, ranchlands, road, turkey, turkeys, Utah, walking, Wild Turkey|

Three days ago, while I was in northern Utah I found some jaywalking Wild Turkey hens near some ranchlands, which made me chuckle out loud.

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Recent Wild Turkey Images

By Mia McPherson|October 14th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, autumn, beard, canyon, close up, colors, creek, creekside, fall, long, male, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, plumage, tom, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

On my three recent trips up into the Wasatch Mountains I have been able to take Wild Turkey images on two of the chilly mornings.

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Wild Turkey Hen Perched In A Netleaf Hackberry Tree

By Mia McPherson|February 4th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, Celtis reticulata, desert, female, hen, Meleagris gallopavo, Netleaf Hackberry, perched, ranchlands, roost, roosting, shrub, tree, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey, winter|

Last month while up in Box Elder County looking for birds I spotted this Wild Turkey hen perched in a Netleaf Hackberry tree not long before noon.

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Thanksgiving 2021

By Mia McPherson|November 25th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, autumn, barn, desert, fall, female, hen, Meleagris gallopavo, on top, pole barn, ranchlands, red, Thanksgiving, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

Despite how rough this year has been this morning on Thanksgiving Day I want to write about thankfulness and gratitude.

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Fall Wild Turkey Hen Images

By Mia McPherson|November 17th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, autumn, beam, desert, fall, female, hen, look out, Meleagris gallopavo, metal, pole barn, power pole, ranchlands, rusty, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, walking, Wild Turkey|

I spotted this Wild Turkey hen walking on a rusty, metal beam of a dilapidated pole barn and I knew that I had to take images of her.

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Focusing On Fall Wild Turkey Tom Photos

By Mia McPherson|November 15th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, autumn, behavior, close up, desert, displaying, face off, facing off, fall, male, Meleagris gallopavo, portrait, ranchlands, tom, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

Yesterday morning the first birds I focused on taking photos of were Wild Turkey toms as they displayed for each other on desert ranchlands in northern Utah.

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Fall Wild Turkey Hen Foraging On Desert Ranchlands

By Mia McPherson|October 19th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, branches, desert, female, hen, Meleagris gallopavo, ranchlands, rocks, standing, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey, wildflowers, yellow wildflowers|

The first photos I took with my newly refurbished Nikon D500 with a new shutter assembly were of this Wild Turkey hen foraging on desert ranchlands.

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Autumn Wild Turkey Hen Portrait

By Mia McPherson|October 11th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: Acer negundo, autumn, Box Elder, canyon, close up, fall, fall colors, female, hen, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, portrait, shadows, Stansbury Mountains, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

I found this Wild Turkey hen last autumn as she walked out of the shadows of the forest and into the bright morning light.

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Spring Wild Turkey Tom Displaying Photos

By Mia McPherson|April 21st, 2021|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, courtship behavior, courtship display, desert, dewlap, displaying, male, Meleagris gallopavo, snood, spring, tom, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

Yesterday morning I spent a bit of time observing and photographing this Wild Turkey tom strutting and displaying in Box Elder County, Utah.

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Spring Wild Turkey Tom Displays

By Mia McPherson|March 17th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: breeding display, courtship display, display, displaying, female, grasses, hen, junipers, male, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, plumage variation, smoke phase, spring, strutting, tom, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

The last time I was up in the Wasatch Mountains I found a Wild Turkey tom displaying next to some old farm equipment for the nearby hens.

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Kinglets And Turkeys Plus One Scrub-Jay

By Mia McPherson|October 9th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays|Tags: Abies concolor, adult, Aphelocoma woodhouseii, canyon, close up, Corthylio calendula, creek, desert, dry wash, fir, firs, hen, jay, jays, kinglet, kinglets, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, peeking, perched, portrait, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, scrub-jay, scrub-jays, sky island mountains, tree, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, wash, White Fir, Wild Turkey, willows, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay|

The Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Wild Turkeys and the Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay made the very bumpy and extremely dusty ride into the mountain canyons well worth taking.

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Autumn Wild Turkey Close Up Photos

By Mia McPherson|September 30th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, autumn, canyon, close up, desert, fall, first fall, foraging, grasses, hen, mountains, portrait, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

There were a few times when the Wild Turkeys stood upright and looked right at me as I photographed them and I took full advantage of the opportunity to take portraits of the large birds.

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Finding Wild Turkey Hens Roosting In Aspens

By Mia McPherson|April 18th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, aspen, budding, canyon, female, forest, hen, Meleagris gallopavo, morning, mountains, muscle memory, pushed off, roost, roosting, spring, tree, turkey, turkeys, Wild Turkey|

I got out into the field for a little while yesterday morning and because of the observation skills I have developed over many years I was able to find two Wild Turkey hens roosting in Aspen trees.

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West Desert Wild Turkey Tom Strutting And Displaying

By Mia McPherson|April 10th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: beard, breeding display, breeding season, canyon, courtship display, displaying, fanned tail, fanning, feathers, gobble, junipers, male, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, road, snood, snow, spring, spring snow, spurs, strutting, tail, tom, turkey, turkeys, Wild Turkey|

I took hundreds of photos of the tom Wild Turkey fanning his tail, walking on the dirt road, strutting and displaying for the hens I could not see. And for those moments all seemed right in the world.

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Smoke Phase Wild Turkey Hen Photos

By Mia McPherson|April 3rd, 2020|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, female, footprints, forest, garbage, grasses, hen, junipers, Meleagris gallopavo, morphs, mountains, mutations, Pack it in, pack it out, plumage variation, recessive genes, smoke phase, smokey phase, smoky-gray phase, snow, soda can, spring, trash, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

Someone at sometime had tossed a soda can into the junipers and the Wild Turkey hen walked right in front of it during the few seconds she was out in the open.

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Smoke Phase Wild Turkey Hen Plus A Displaying Tom

By Mia McPherson|April 2nd, 2020|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: breeding display, courtship display, displaying, female, forest, grasses, hen, junipers, male, Meleagris gallopavo, morphs, mountains, mutations, plumage variation, recessive genes, smoke phase, smokey phase, smoky-gray phase, spring, tom, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

If I hadn't have been paying attention yesterday I might have missed out on spotting a flock of turkeys in some junipers and photographing a smoke phase Wild Turkey hen.

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Wild Turkey Hens On Bales Of Hay

By Mia McPherson|March 21st, 2020|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: alert, curious, female, hay, hay bales, hen, Meleagris gallopavo, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

I'm hoping to get back up into some mountains soon where I know more Wild Turkeys are because as much as I like the bales of hay in these photos I'd love to get photos of turkeys in more natural settings again.

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Wild Turkey Hen In Sage

By Mia McPherson|March 13th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, female, fresh leaves, frustrations in bird photography, habitat, hen, Meleagris gallopavo, on the move, sage, sagebrush, turkey, turkeys, Wild Turkey|

Yesterday I was able to photograph a Wild Turkey hen in sage. Not culinary sage but the wild sage we have here in northern Utah.

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Wild Turkeys, Hay Bales And The Noisy Diesel Pickup That Chased Them Away

By Mia McPherson|February 9th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Etiquette, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: alert, colorful, diesel pickup, etiquette, feeding, female, hay, hay bales, hen, light colored, Meleagris gallopavo, noisy, ranch, shadow, stack, stressed, ticked off, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey, winter|

In about the span of minute all of the Wild Turkeys had flown off of the bales of hay because of that noisy, diesel pickup truck being so close to them.

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Hay Bales And Wild Turkeys

By Mia McPherson|December 29th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Utah, Wild Turkeys|Tags: adult, bales, females, hay, hay bales, hens, Meleagris gallopavo, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey, winter|

The best chance I had of getting some frame filling images of birds was when I spotted a small flock of Wild Turkeys on top of some hay bales at a ranch.

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Wild Turkey Tom Foraging After A Snowfall

By Mia McPherson|November 5th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: flock, flocks, foraging, forest, male, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, snow, tom, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

Six days ago I was happy to see three flocks of Wild Turkeys and the smallest flock was in good light, at the edge of a forest and they were cooperative.

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Small Flock Of Male Wild Turkeys With One Odd, Dark Tom

By Mia McPherson|October 20th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: alert, colorful, dark, food, introduced, male, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, native, non-native, road, strutting, tom, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, very dark, walking, Wild Turkey|

Two days ago I spotted a Wild Turkey tom crossing a dirt road high up in the Stansbury Mountains and to my delight there were several more males following behind him.

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West Desert Wild Turkey Hen At The Edge Of A Meadow

By Mia McPherson|May 18th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: grass, hen, meadow, Meleagris gallopavo, trees, turkey, turkeys, Wild Turkey, woods|

In my post about Chipping Sparrows, Wild Turkeys and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds earlier this week I mentioned that I had taken more photos of the turkey hen so this morning I thought I'd share one more photo of her.

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Chipping Sparrows, Wild Turkeys and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds

By Mia McPherson|May 15th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Chipping Sparrows, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Chipping Sparrow, currants, grass, grasses, hen, hummingbird, hummingbirds, juniper, male, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, Ribes cereum, Selasphorus platycercus, sparrow, sparrows, Spizella passerina, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wax Currant, Wild Turkey|

The gems of my photographic journey yesterday morning were Broad-tailed Hummingbirds that were hanging around a Wax Currant bush next to the dirt road where the sounds of their wings alerted me to their presence.

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2018 Year In Review For On The Wing Photography

By Mia McPherson|December 31st, 2018|Categories: Baltimore Orioles, Birds, Brewer's Blackbirds, California Gulls, Cedar Waxwings, Northern Mockingbirds, Peregrine Falcons, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Say's Phoebes, Tundra Swans, Wild Turkeys, Yellow Warblers, Yellow-bellied Marmots|Tags: Baltimore Oriole, Bombycilla cedrorum, Brewer's Blackbird, California Gull, Cedar Waxwing, Cygnus columbianus, Euphagus cyanocephalus, Falco peregrinus, Icterus galbula, Larus californicus, Marmota flaviventris, Meleagris gallopavo, Mimus polyglottos, Northern Mockingbird, Peregrine Falcon, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Say's Phoebe, Sayornis saya, Setophaga petechia, Sitta canadensis, Tundra Swan, Wild Turkey, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-bellied Marmot|

All in all, as 2018 comes to a close I realize how fortunate I am to see all the birds that I do throughout the year as a bird photographer, to be able to do what I love and to love my feathered subjects too.

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Photographing Wild Turkeys In The Mountains

By Mia McPherson|November 14th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Upland Terrestrial Birds, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: attention, close up, juniper, Meleagris gallopavo, over the shoulder look, photograph, photographing, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, wary, Wild Turkey, woods|

I'm always glad to see and photograph Wild Turkeys and most of the time I see them more than I can photograph them because they are often too far away but some days it does work out that I can have them in my viewfinder and click the shutter release.

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Let’s Talk Turkey About Wild Turkeys In A West Desert Canyon

By Mia McPherson|September 12th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: canyon, facts, hens, Meleagris gallopavo, mountains, road, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey, young|

I photographed a small flock of Wild Turkeys yesterday in the West Desert of Utah, specifically in a canyon of the Stansbury Mountains. I just never know when turkeys will show up and I am glad they did yesterday because I didn't photograph many other birds.

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Wild Turkey Tom Strutting and Displaying Plus Memories Turkeys Arouse In Me

By Mia McPherson|March 31st, 2018|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: displaying, junipers, Meleagris gallopavo, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia, mountains, Rio Grande, sagebrush, Southwestern, strutting, tom, turkey, turkeys, upland terrestrial birds, Wild Turkey|

Breeding season has begun for Wild Turkeys so when I spotted a flock of them yesterday in the Stansbury Mountains in Tooele County I was hoping to photograph a tom turkey strutting.

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