The weather gods have finally given us a break. It’s a beautiful 52 degrees, sunshine and a light breeze this morning. And the 1.8 inches of rain we received this week was a welcome relief to a summer of heat and near drought. But I can’t complain too loudly considering areas of the country we’ve lived that are experiencing heavy flooding, scorching heat, or even worse – extreme wildfires. I am enjoying the cooler nights now and my body is starting to believe that my favorite season, autumn, is just around the corner.
So as I sit here enjoying the morning, so too are the wildlife. Over the last several years we have been privileged to watch flocks of wild turkeys using our yard as a feeding ground and our trees for roosting through the night. This morning I watched our flock of 8 meander past the deck, unhurried and unconcerned by the presence of humans. To top it off, right behind the turkeys was a doe and two fawns with their spots barely visible, on their way out to feed – a beautiful sight. I’m guessing the thunderstorms through the night kept them bedded down.
This year’s turkey flock is being led by a majestic hen with a smoke gray color phase, making her appear almost ghostly white. Wild turkeys do come in a number of variations beyond the normal brown, ranging from nearly white to almost total black. This is the first color phase we’ve seen here. Smoke is the most common phase with predominantly white feathers and black/gray contrast along the back and tail. She is gorgeous.
More from the Backyard
Weather conditions over the last few months have been less than ideal for outdoor photography. Hot dry conditions have stressed the flora, not to mention the photographer! And when the temperatures dropped to reasonable conditions the wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota made the air unhealthy. I had plans for attending the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Jackson and the Thunder Over Michigan airshow, but both were at the peak of the wildfire smoke. So finding time to get out was tough, but here are a few images I was able to capture this summer.
Geek Alert: Japanese Beetles are a highly invasive scarab beetle, first introduced to the United States in New Jersey around 1912. Since that time it has spread rapidly across most states and into Canada. It is a beautiful to the eye iridescent green, that has no natural predators outside of Japan. They quickly devour many types of flowering plants which anyone that loves roses can attest too. I remember back in 1977-78 I was running public health programs for McGuire AFB, NJ and we would set up monitoring stations around the base, capturing hundreds of the beetles every night. Invasive species, flora or fauna, displace native species and while they may look pretty they rarely provide a food source for native insects and animals.
Watkins Lake Preserve
Aaah, one of my favorite shooting locations – of course I made it out there a couple of times! The wildlife has not yet been as spectacular this year. But as fall rolls around I anticipate it will improve with waterfowl migration. August 12th provided a great opportunity for night sky images, with a new moon not interfering with the star light, and the peak of the Perseid Meteor showers occurring at the same time. Unfortunately there was some sky haze from smoke, and the mosquitoes were quite voracious that evening. Anyway, here are a few images out at the lake.
Wrapup
Last fall I spent time in Rochester, Minnesota and took some time to revisit some of my childhood haunts of the 1960s. In January I promised to take a brief nostalgic look at Rochester; obviously that has not happened yet. But who knows, it still might occur.
I mentioned in my last writing a personal struggle to recapture my artistic mojo. So this spring and summer I picked up a paint brush and started learning watercolor. And I have to say it has been a lot of fun and inspiring creatively. If you enjoyed this Journal entry, please drop me a comment below, feel free to share with your friends, and visit my website Terrance Alexander Photography.
Wishing you all a safe and healthy last few weeks of summer. With kindness and understanding as a 2026 aspiration – Terrance Alexander