Counting birds

[roosterpull]

I am a volunteer counter of turkeys during July and August for the Maryland Wildlife & Heritage Service. This has been a strange year observing turkeys in far Western Maryland. Instead of the usual hen or two with 8 to 12 peeps, I have seen a group of five hens, several lone gobblers and just a bird here and there, in spite of pretty good weather in early summer for poult survival.
Our very rainy spring made for a lot of thick undergrowth and for late cutting of hayfields. I think that has reduced observations as well.

[roosterpull]

Saw two big hens this p.m. and each had 7 peeps. The peeps were quite large, so maybe they were an early hatch. The new jakebirds were noticeably larger than the new jennybirds. The hens looked like they weighed 18 pounds. Maybe that historical record acorn crop in the autumn of 2010 has made everything fat in the woods.