Saw this rafter of turkeys up behind the athletic fields at the old Hazard Street School site. Several toms in the gang and hens galore. Didn't want to upset them too much by getting real close, but they're a high-strung bunch, and any step I took to approach their red zone, heads would pop straight up and away they'd move as one. Even so, they were pretty nonchalant as they rather ambled down the side of the baseball field along Hatherleigh, then brought a few cars to a halt as they crossed Century.
One poor hen had earlier on flown over the fence but was walking on pace with the gang with only a fence between them. When they got to the intersection and she to the high backstop behind homeplate, she just started pacing two or three steps to her right then the same to her left ever more quickly as the gang moved across the road. She kept accelerating the to-and-fro until I could see the panic.
I figured I had better do something, being the only one around (other than those in the cars). Walking toward her increased her apparent anxiety until my posing threat tipped the scale against keeping visual contact with the rest of the rafter.
She moved toward the third base line and discovered the lower fence; a few running steps and a roll of wings and she was up and across the street successfully reunited.
It's all happening in Solvay, folks!
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