This morning the turkeys began behaving oddly. The largest bird walked a short distance away from the others and began shrieking continually and loudly. The rest of the flock then huddled together, separate from the one that was calling. The reason for this behaviour soon appeared. A large-ish hawk began swooping on the smaller birds around my bird feeders. The hawk persisted in its attempts long enough for my DH to go fetch his camera with the zoom lens and take pics. He identified the raptor as a Cooper's hawk.
Although adult turkeys were not in danger from a hawk this size, it still speaks volumes that the flock leader, on seeing a hawk, unhesitatingly put his life on the line to save the others by separating from them and calling attention to himself. That brave turkey deserves a medal!
June!
The hawk flew back and swooped down but took off again and I'm sure found it's dinner somewhere else. It's 82ºF here and lots and lots of green shrubbery for the small birds to hide in. What surprises me is that a lot of the Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds perch on the power lines and don't seem intimidated by the hawks at all; possibly because they know there are hundreds of doves and smaller birds for the hawks to take. 
