Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.
Today’s forecast called for mostly sunny skies. With temperatures hovering at 16-degrees, the partially open wetland where I’d seen quite a few ducks yesterday would now be reduced to an airhole or two; birds would be concentrated – good place to put a photo blind. I had almost reached the marsh when a frog strangling fog descended on the land. The deepest the snow cover makes the heavier the fog, and this stuff was dense. Arriving at the pond, I probably couldn’t see 50 yards past the road. Not good, especially since I didn’t know for sure if there was even any open water left.
Switching gears, I decided to look for turkeys. My call was already in the truck and it was still plenty early. The woodland I had in mind was only a couple of miles away. Although the early gobbling was less than I had hoped, turkeys came off the roost in good time and were pleasingly active. Attached are photos of a two-year-old tom and his Super Jake buddy. You hear a lot of theories about the so called ‘Super Jakes’. What they really are are very early hatches that experienced a more complete tail molt than what is average for first year birds. Looking at the photos, I noticed that both birds have already broomed the tips off their primaries. That takes a lot of struttin’ in winter snow.
Tom Cope
Sue Wilkinson
Susan Judkins Josten
Rudi Roeslein
Elyssa McFarland
Mark Langgin
Adam Janke
Joe Henry
Kristin Ashenbrenner
Joe Wilkinson
Dr. Tammy Mildenstein
Sean McMahon