Turkeys Away - Not

My favorite episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati" is the Thanksgiving show "Turkeys Away." The joke is that the station manager drops domestic turkeys out of a helicopter, thinking they can fly. Around our house, we have wild turkeys and they're flocking to our bird feeders more and more often. Until today, I had only seen one at a time. Today, I spotted three turkeys at the same time and did what any shutterbug would do: I photographed them.
As the snow melts away it reveals the sunflower seeds - and their shells - that have landed on the ground recently. It'll be a chore to rake them up, but otherwise they will attract rodents if left unattended. As the weather gets above freezing it is also imperative to clean the bird feeders. We usually clean the feeders in the evening so they can dry overnight before they get filled again. For cleaning we use one part bleach to ten parts water. If you don't have bleach, vinegar will do too. It is important to rinse the feeders thoroughly to remove any trace of bleach. Diseases can spread easily at a heavily frequented bird feeder. That's why it is important to keep up with cleaning and/or removing moldy seeds.