Thanks to reintroduction programs and habitat restoration/protection, wild turkeys are fairly common throughout most of Colorado. The Merriam species inhabits foothills and lower mountain meadows while the non-native Rio Grande species was introduced in riparian areas of the Eastern Plains. Nevertheless, until this morning, I had never encountered wild turkeys in South Platte Park.
A week ago, while I was out of town, a birding friend of mine was the first to discover the flock, a female and six juveniles. On our visit this morning, my wife and I found them in a woodland along one of the ponds (Bufflehead Lake to be specific). Foraging in the shadows, the turkeys were oblivious of our presence though they were less than twenty feet from the trail.
Since the Park is relatively close to the Front Range foothills and to high terrain in Douglas County, I assume the visitors wandered down along one of the many tributaries that feed the South Platte River. Regardless of their route, it was a pleasure to see them this morning; for us birders, even common species are of interest when they turn up at unexpected locations. My thanks to Bob (and Sharon, of course) for the heads up.
