We don't get over to Staten Island very often, but when we do, it's a memorable experience. After not visiting for over a year because of the pandemic, we made a trek earlier this month to see if we could find any interesting wildlife.
To our amazement, we came across a flock of over forty wild turkeys foraging in the leaf litter by the side of a busy road.
The sun was just about to set, so we scrambled to get a few photos before it became completely dark.
A few birds made our day by walking in front of a perfect backdrop.
As the sun went down, the turkeys started flying, one by one, up into the trees to roost.
In the span of about ten minutes, the entire flock was up in the trees and we could barely see them in the dark.
Being city people, we thought seeing this many turkeys was pretty unique and special, but this is apparently just another day on Staten Island. Local residents walked/jogged/biked past the turkeys without giving them a second glance. The turkeys, in turn, ignored the human activity.
And so it was with great amusement to discover native Staten Islander, Pete Davidson, made this ode to his home borough for Saturday Night Live. Wild turkeys (possibly this very same flock!), are featured at the 2:03 mark.
After making sure the turkeys were tucked in for the night, we popped over to Snug Harbor for the NYC Winter Lantern Festival. It's a fun event and a good way to lift the spirits.
The Lantern Festival runs through the first week of January and, if visiting the Snug Harbor location, there's a good chance of running into some wild turkeys.
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