Our house sits on the edge of two different corn fields, in addition to a forested area, a field of grass (that is still bright green in November?), and a horse pasture.
For a couple of months the fields of corn have been dry and golden, and we’ve been wondering when the farmers are finally going to harvest the crops. The day finally came on November 5th.
The leaves on the trees are now completely gone and the fields of corn and soybeans (the other major crop) are bare. It is a depressing sight. I know the winter will be tough but at least the snow will make for a more scenic view.
The upside, however, to having a mass of bare trees is being able to see more wildlife. Last night I watched a group of deer peruse the empty corn field for leftovers. The other day Sim spotted a large owl with a white chest sitting up in a tree. And last week we went for a walk in forest and found lots of turkeys sitting high up in the trees. Since they are in plain sight they are more skittish now and start to evacuate once someone gets within a couple hundred feet of them. So they launch off, flapping their wings incessantly to try and keep their fat little bodies up in the air, only to eventually fly downwards and land in lower branches of other trees. To get back up to their high spots they have to fly and climb their way up through the branches. Between that, the number of predators they have, and Thanksgiving right around the corner, life as a turkey is rough in Iowa.
It’s hard to get pictures of turkeys, but I found these photos of Iowa turkeys online.
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