Wild Turkey Tale

My photography teacher told me I really did not need to spend the big bucks on a 400mm lens. He said if I put my 70mm - 200mm lens on my old camera (with a smaller sensor) and added a 2X converter, I would get the reach I am looking for. O.K., so I thought I did what he said and I headed out yesterday morning back to the John Heinz Nature Preserve to see if I could photograph the Eagles. Well, as you all may know, my brain is a little fuzzy, and I forgot to include the 2X converter. I was back to square one with no ability to take pictures of anything too far away. Bummed out, but not deterred, I walked the trails taking pictures of frogs and swallows and caterpillars. I finally decided it was time to come home - when what did I see from the corner of my eye - but a large fan of brown feathers in the brush. I looked a little closer and there was a WILD Turkey. Oh, heaven had arrived. I stopped in my tracks and just slowly crept ever forward. The turkey (as I realized after a little while) was not terribly bright. I could get pretty close and the turkey was not aware that I was anything but a tripod and a red rain jacket. After a while, I think the turkey sort of developed a crush on me or the moving tripod because he was always raising his tail feathers and sort of puffing all up. Here are a few shots of my new friend standing proud, showing me his tail feathers, and relaxed. Click on the photo for the full effect.