Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Turkey tales

We looked out our window yesterday and saw this:

Oh my, this fellow thought he was hot stuff – strutting and turning in front of some monumentally indifferent ladies.

At this stage, the toms always remind me of Spanish grandees: proud, showy, impressive.

I dunno, do the ladies seem impressed?

The flock passed under our balcony and out the other side.

The tom packed away his feathers for a bit...

...then fluffed them out, ready to impress once more.

Something spooked the flock, and they took off down the valley, landing near another flock. Oh no! Competition! Suddenly tails were fanning out everywhere as the toms strutted their stuff.

Ah spring, when a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. It always amazes me this display impresses any of the females (I always picture them chatting with each other as follows: "Mabel, I just love your hairdo. Where did you get it done?"), but I guess it works. We have lots of turkeys around us.

Meanwhile, a few days earlier we had a flock pass through with their "babies" in tow.

Ha ha, I lied. Look carefully. The "babies" are a separate flock of quail.

The quail passed among the flock of turkeys, like galaxies passing through each other with nothing colliding. One flock went one direction, the other went another direction.

Turkeys always strike me as prehistoric-looking birds. It's like having little herds of dinosaurs passing through.

So these are your turkey tales for the day. You're welcome.

8 comments:

  1. So many dinners, so little room in the freezer....

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  2. I suppose that since chickens are ancestors of dinosaurs, turkey would be, too.

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  3. Ohhh. He's so handsome

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  4. We have lots of turkeys here in the Hamptons. What annoys me is when they're crossing the road ultra slowly and won't get out of the way of cars. Um, you birds do realize you're edible, riiiiight? Don't push me.

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  5. You take such beautiful pictures. Once I saw an add where people could create their own calendars using their own pictures. Nowadays you could probably do it on the computer. It would make a great gift for family and friends special occasions.

    It's funny how male birds are so much more beautiful than their female counterparts.

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  6. We have them here, too. There was a time when they were roosting in trees I drive under on my way to work. I didn't realize it until they started dropping like bowling balls about 20 yards in front of my car one day! After that I watched carefully for them - they can do a lot of damage!

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  7. A small bone to pick: You wrote, "I always picture them chatting with each other as follows: "Mabel, I just love your hairdo. Where did you get it done?". Shouldn't that be "Mabel, I just love your feather preen. Where did you get it done?". Just kiddin'. I'm positively green with envy of your backyard wildlife.

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