Something amazing happened this year in the Wind River Canyon here in Wyoming.  Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) were born in the canyon for the very first time!  I never thought we would ever see Wild Turkeys hatched in the canyon; but, photographing them is another challenge that is wildly more impossible itself. 

     The mother Wild Turkey is crazy protective; everyone loves turkey; she will give a command that makes her babies virtually vanish right before your eyes and your camera.  While I've been following their sojourns for many months and shot-off hundreds of images, they still elude.  That is part of the fun of capturing wildlife photographs; the secret, quiet chase.  These are the very first images of wild turkeys photographed in the Wind River Canyon. Wild Turkey Mother and Chick, Wind River CanyonWild Turkey mom and a chick imaged in the Wind River Canyon in the state of Wyoming.      This next image is of a wild turkey chick taken early one morning here in the canyon going over a stone wall. Baby Wild TurkeyBaby Wild Turkey chick born in and imaged in the Wind River Canyon in the state of Wyoming.       Along Wyoming roadsides blooms a wild sunflower that easily propagate themselves and American Goldfinches (Carduelis tristis) just adore.  It's a great game observing them trying to get the small seeds from the flowers and capturing images without interfering with their behavior. 

     Of all the photographs I have taken in the past several weeks of the American Goldfinch doing their acrobatic routines with these yellow flowers, the one image in this Wind River Canyon Blog is an adorable favorite.  It's an adult male goldfinch teaching a couple of his chicks that these seeds are incredibly tasty.  Like your first childhood memories of pancakes, these young birds are learning quickly.  The image was shot before the sun came up (or down?) in the canyon; yellow birds are too highly reflective in direct sunshine. American GoldfinchesAmerican Goldfinch male feeding 2 baby Goldfinches in the Wind River Canyon in Wyoming.      Not knowing that the American Goldfinch was such a good father and teacher made this nature-study that much more endearing; the image more inspiring.

     When Mother Nature touches your heart, you will carry the emotions and forever be changed by your observations.  Maybe this explains just some of our country's problems today; too many stresses and not enough of the natural world to soothe our hearts.

Thank you for the use of your time.

All content is protected by copyright and all rights are reserved; all content is created and produced by Michael John Balog, resident of the Wind River Canyon.

For more wildlife images from the Wind River Canyon in Wyoming, safely visit my website and you will see everything from hummingbirds to an Albino Bighorn Sheep----HogbatsPhotography.com