I was sitting in my vehicle on May 14th near French Lake inside the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. I had my attention on a pair of Mississippi Kites when something large moved through the grass nearby. It was a female Rio Grande Turkey. She slowly walked close to where I was parked.
I grabbed a few photos before she crossed the road right in front of me. Then she disappeared into the woods.
Turkeys are common at Wichita Mountains
This refuge has no shortage of turkeys. I see them all the time while driving through. That same morning, I heard several Toms calling off in the distance.
Over the years, I’ve even seen them near my campsite at Doris Campground. I wrote about two Toms displaying there in this post: Rio Grande Turkeys Strutting at Wichita Mountains.
If you want to see more from that day, here are the Mississippi Kites at Wichita Mountains – Photo Highlights.
The Rio Grande Turkeys here look and act a little different than the Eastern Wild Turkeys I usually see back home in Arkansas. These birds tend to be lighter in color and have longer legs. They also seem to thrive in more open areas like the grasslands and scattered trees of this refuge, while the ones in Arkansas stick closer to dense woods.
Turkeys are fun to watch
These birds move slow but stay alert. I always enjoy seeing them, especially when they show up unexpectedly like this.