Foto

Tomorrow being Thanksgiving in the U.S., I thought I would post a picture of that most illustrious, noble, and North American of birds: the wild turkey. Legend has it that Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey as the United States' national bird, its mascot if you will, but lost out to the eagle faction.

Every fourth Thursday in November, Americans gather as friends and family for a feast of truly gluttonous proportions (even for Americans). The specifics of the meal vary, but most households eat mashed potatoes, yams/sweet potatoes, rolls/bread, some sort of vegetable, pumpkin pie, and of course turkey. Hence Thanksgiving's unofficial moniker of "Turkey Day."

This is actually a wild turkey that I photographed from my car shortly after sunrise at about 7,000 feet elevation in the mountains above Provo, Utah. There were about 30 wild turkeys all hanging out at the side of the road. Thankfully they were close enough that I could photograph them without leaving the safety of my car--turkeys are notoriously ill-tempered birds.