Considering we do not (to my knowledge) live near a turkey farm or anywhere that wild turkeys might hang out, I found that pretty strange indeed.
Fast forward to yesterday, when I discovered this guy hanging out on our screened porch (on the outside of the screen, thankfully!)
This photo doesn't really do justice to the size of this insect. It had to be like 4-inches long or something. Perhaps the pictures below will give you some better scale.
Ryan tells me it's a praying mantis. I just prayed that he (or she?) would leave.
And then this evening, as I was pulling into our driveway, I noticed a crazy swarm of birds swooping all around our front yard. I took some video because it totally freaked me (and Owen) out.
I was so mesmerized by this display that I watched it for a good while after I finally pulled the car into the garage and I noticed that, what at first appeared to be just a very large flock of very small birds, was actually a combination of giant dragonflies and small birds. I don't know if the birds were trying to prey on the dragonflies. (They were just little birds...maybe swallows? And why didn't the dragonflies just beat it out of there if they were under attack?) Or maybe it was just some fanciful dance number that these little creatures were enjoying with one another. Whatever it was, it freaked me out, and then fascinated me, and then it was over. Very odd.
Finally, as I'm typing this post, I'm staring at the dead fly that has been trapped in my bedroom blinds for the past few days (I just haven't bothered to fish it out) and, although it's not exactly an unusual creature, I thought it's placement was rather odd, so I figured I may as well throw that in there, too — for good measure.
Anyway, who knew there was such crazy wildlife to be seen in small-town suburban Iowa? Not this girl.
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