Freeze, turkeys!

I never know what I will find while at my Mom's house. Today, it was 12 turkeys (all hens and young). Sucky photos, but cool birds.

Look closely at the tan blur to the left of the turkey in the middle. That tan blur is a fawn, skipping and playing around the turkeys.

And the fact that I could be turning into an old curmudgeon hit home today. Some of the neighborhood kids starting running after the turkeys and scaring them off. I starting hollering at the top of my lungs (and the top of my lungs are way up there) "Stop chasing those birds!!!". Now, this is probably the length of two football fields, and I was at one end and the kids were at the other, and they heard me loud and clear and ran away real fast. Satisfying, yes, but I had become that guy who yells at kids playing in front of his house. But I'd do it again, because it's not like those turkeys were getting ready to break into a house or anything.

The two fawns and two adults showed up later in Mom's back yard, where she has a trough and scratch for the deer and turkeys. It was interesting to see a fawn this big and still sporting spots. (Nice alliteration, Susan. Gee, thanks!)
This tree has been near the pond as long as I can remember, and has fascinated me as long, too. This time of year, the thorns (which are easily 3-4 inches long) turn blood red, and can give you serious thoughts of what they could do to you if you weren't paying attention. I used to play near this tree, and once got a thorn stuck in the back of my thigh. The tip broke off in my skin, and it took days of "drawing" salve to get it out. Still love the tree, though.
I got the pleasure of getting the bejesus scared out of me by a green heron as I walked into the tangle around the pond. My Mom is so lucky to live where she does. She has open field, a forest, a pond and a creek. You never know what you will see.