Canadians actually have had their Thanksgiving already. We have it in October. Anyway, something really neat happened on my birthday which is around the middle of October. I had 3 visitors from France staying at my place that week, and we were celebrating my birthday and Monique's, because they were both happening that week. So we were all in the dining room in the morning, having breakfast. The windows and patio doors look out on a large back lawn with a forest behind it and big trees all around. Suddenly I saw a line of wild turkeys emerge cautiously making their way around the corner of the house from the east end. They were stepping softly and keeping a careful watch. I alerted the guests and we all watched with rapt attention as a group of 29 of these amazing birds trouped into the back yard and spread out to forage around the bird feeders I have set up...only about 15 feet from the dining room and living room windows. It was an amazing and beautiful sight to see these very large wild birds up so close.

Maguy got a number of pictures of them with her camera. The turkeys were clearly aware that we were behind the windows watching them, but they didn't seem to be too worried about it. They were in the back yard for about the next half hour, slowly moving around the lawn in search of food. Eventually they went into the forest at the back and vanished from sight.

Monique said that if her uncle was there he'd have siezed the opportunity to get his gun and fill the freezer with fresh turkey meat, but I wouldn't dream of shooting those beautiful birds...unless I was starving. Then I guess I would.

Wild Turkeys were extinct in Ontario earlier in the 20th century, but they have been re-introduced from the USA since, and they are now doing well. This is the only time I've seen them up close, and it was quite a treat that it happened on my birthday.