{"id":96521,"date":"2021-10-19T05:47:35","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T11:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=96521"},"modified":"2021-10-19T05:47:35","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T11:47:35","slug":"fall-wild-turkey-hen-foraging-on-desert-ranchlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/19\/fall-wild-turkey-hen-foraging-on-desert-ranchlands\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall Wild Turkey Hen Foraging On Desert Ranchlands"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AutumnAutumn Wild Turkey hen on desert ranchlands \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The first photos I took with my newly refurbished Nikon D500 with a new shutter assembly were of this Wild Turkey hen foraging on desert ranchlands. At this point I was still trying to get the diopter set for my eyes after Nikon had changed it. When I took this image I was still slightly off on the diopter setting but the auto focus on my D500 worked just fine.<\/p>\n

There were about 15 turkey hens and one tom in this group. Not too far away I spotted many more turkeys foraging on the foothills of the ranchlands.<\/p>\n

I was paying attention to getting my diopter set correctly and didn’t take the time to identify the yellow wildflowers that were in bloom near this hen.<\/p>\n

\"FallFall Wild Turkey hen on desert ranchlands \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I liked this Wild Turkey hen photo because her eyes weren’t fully open which gave her a sloe-eyed look.<\/p>\n

Since the beginning of autumn I have been hoping to photograph some fall Wild Turkeys so I was happy that I found this flock.<\/p>\n

As I worked up these two images of the Wild Turkey hens I thought about the way we group birds and how I detest that Wild Turkeys, grouse, partridges, pheasants, quail, prairie chickens, ptarmigans, and chachalacas are grouped as “upland game birds<\/span><\/a>” in field guides and on line which to me just seems wrong.<\/p>\n

Having the word “game” in there is what bothers me. I come from a family of hunters and have no issue with people hunting as long as they eat what they hunt. The use of “upland game birds” is an American thing. Personally I think of these birds as upland ground birds<\/em> because most of the species included in this family grouping forage on the ground. I wouldn’t have a problem with calling them upland birds<\/em> either. No offense intended towards hunters but they were birds eons before they were game. Just a thought.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Wild Turkey photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first photos I took with my newly refurbished Nikon D500 with a new shutter assembly were of this Wild Turkey hen foraging on desert ranchlands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,26,3793],"tags":[4004,6577,4098,4070,4359,3795,11852,4470,953,3796,5501,401,3794,4307,5063],"class_list":["post-96521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","category-wild-turkeys","tag-adult","tag-branches","tag-desert","tag-female","tag-hen","tag-meleagris-gallopavo","tag-ranchlands","tag-rocks","tag-standing","tag-turkey","tag-turkeys","tag-upland-game-birds","tag-wild-turkey","tag-wildflowers","tag-yellow-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/wild-turkey-hen-box-elder-mia-mcpherson-0090.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-p6N","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107473,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/23\/jaywalking-wild-turkey-pictures\/","url_meta":{"origin":96521,"position":0},"title":"Jaywalking Wild Turkey Pictures","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago, while I was in northern Utah I found some jaywalking Wild Turkey hens near some ranchlands, which made me chuckle out loud.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jaywalking hen Wild Turkey, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/wild-turkey-jaywalking-mia-mcpherson-2463.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/wild-turkey-jaywalking-mia-mcpherson-2463.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/wild-turkey-jaywalking-mia-mcpherson-2463.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/wild-turkey-jaywalking-mia-mcpherson-2463.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74216,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/30\/autumn-wild-turkey-close-up-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":96521,"position":1},"title":"Autumn Wild Turkey Close Up Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"There were a few times when the Wild Turkeys stood upright and looked right at me as I photographed them and I took full advantage of the opportunity to take portraits of the large birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging Wild Turkey portrait, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-close-up-mia-mcpherson-1786.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-close-up-mia-mcpherson-1786.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-close-up-mia-mcpherson-1786.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-close-up-mia-mcpherson-1786.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97431,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/17\/fall-wild-turkey-hen-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":96521,"position":2},"title":"Fall Wild Turkey Hen Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I spotted this Wild Turkey hen walking on a rusty, metal beam of a dilapidated pole barn and I knew that I had to take images of her.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wild Turkey hen walking on a rusty metal beam, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wild-turkey-hen-pole-barn-mia-mcpherson-3966.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wild-turkey-hen-pole-barn-mia-mcpherson-3966.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wild-turkey-hen-pole-barn-mia-mcpherson-3966.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wild-turkey-hen-pole-barn-mia-mcpherson-3966.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97303,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/15\/focusing-on-fall-wild-turkey-tom-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":96521,"position":3},"title":"Focusing On Fall Wild Turkey Tom Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning the first birds I focused on taking photos of were Wild Turkey toms as they displayed for each other on desert ranchlands in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two Wild Turkey toms facing off, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wild-turkey-toms-two-close-mia-mcpherson-3808.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wild-turkey-toms-two-close-mia-mcpherson-3808.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wild-turkey-toms-two-close-mia-mcpherson-3808.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wild-turkey-toms-two-close-mia-mcpherson-3808.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137565,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/28\/wild-turkey-images-happy-thanksgiving-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":96521,"position":4},"title":"Wild Turkey Images – Happy Thanksgiving 2024","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, I'm sharing Wild Turkey images of foraging hens I found in the Stansbury Mountains of northern Utah because it's Thanksgiving Day. It was a lovely day.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging Wild Turkey hen in the mountains of the West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/wild-turkey-hen-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-1433.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/wild-turkey-hen-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-1433.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/wild-turkey-hen-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-1433.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/wild-turkey-hen-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-1433.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":99650,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/04\/wild-turkey-hen-perched-in-a-netleaf-hackberry-tree\/","url_meta":{"origin":96521,"position":5},"title":"Wild Turkey Hen Perched In A Netleaf Hackberry Tree","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month while up in Box Elder County looking for birds I spotted this Wild Turkey hen perched in a Netleaf Hackberry tree not long before noon.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wild Turkey hen perched in a Netleaf Hackberry, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/wild-turkey-hen-netleaf-hackberry-mia-mcpherson-0095.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/wild-turkey-hen-netleaf-hackberry-mia-mcpherson-0095.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/wild-turkey-hen-netleaf-hackberry-mia-mcpherson-0095.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/wild-turkey-hen-netleaf-hackberry-mia-mcpherson-0095.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}