This was so cool. To get home in the evening I normally walk along 116th St. from the Columbia campus to my building. It was so nice today I decided to take the scenic route through Morningside Park. This wild turkey was in the little meadow above the pond and waterfall. She didn't seem to mind the people in the park. I was able to sneak up to within ten feet for these photos. A crowd had gathered and someone shouted out to me "What is that thing?"
How long she has lived in the park? I couldn't find mention of her anywhere.
Last fall, I saw Zelda, the turkey living in Battery Park.
Nice shots of the turkey. As far as I know the turkey is a very recent arrival to the park. I first heard reports of sitings this week and these are the first photos I've seen. Between the turkey, the peacocks at the Cathedral and the Red Tailed Hawks who have a nest on one of the statues at the East end of the Cathedral, our neighborhood has quite a bit of unusual wildlife!
Posted by: Brad | 11 May 2005 at 10:34 PM
Wow, never seen her. I'll keep an eye out for her.
Posted by: carpeicthus | 15 May 2005 at 12:15 PM
I saw the turkey and her offspring last night! ;)
Posted by: the girl | 02 July 2005 at 03:29 PM
Offspring? Thanks for letting me know. I'll have to keep an eye out for them.
Posted by: joe | 03 July 2005 at 10:36 PM
I saw a turkey last week in Morningside Park at 123rd street near the northern-most stairs in the area behind the playground. It was my second time seeing one. The first time was about 5-6 months ago. That turkey looked like the one in the picture above. The most recent turkey I saw didn't look as big as the one in the picture so it might be one of the offspring(?) referred to. Methinks these are dangerous times to be a wild turkey. (And you thought the holidays were bad for you!)
Posted by: david | 23 November 2005 at 10:09 PM
Mmmm tasty turkey. Wish I had my 12 gauge (and a fall turkey hunting permit).
Posted by: blam | 11 October 2006 at 12:58 PM
Are you sure she's not Zelda from Battery Park? Zelda has flown up to TriBeCa before, maybe her roost got gentrified, or her gent got fried and she's looking for an uptown love?
I saw her recently in a tree on 122nd in Morningside Park. Terrific!
http://curbed.com/archives/2005/07/05/turkey_perches_above_like_he_owns_the_freakin_place.php
Posted by: jc | 09 April 2008 at 04:16 PM
The Morningside Park turkey is definitely not Zelda. Actually, this particular turkey disappeared from the park a couple of years ago. Nobody seems to know where it went. The current turkey, Hedda Gobbler, was caught further uptown and introduced into the park a while back.
Posted by: Joe | 09 April 2008 at 08:40 PM