Chasing the Ladies

This handsome fellow was strutting his stuff in front of the house the other day. He had two ladies he was hoping to impress.

Here are the turkey hens he was after.

 

Gobble Gobble

 

It's spring turkey season!

Turkeys in the Snow

Turkey Trot

I glanced out my office window and saw two tom turkeys strutting and chasing after a female over in the woods.

Nothing to do but grab the camera!

 

I was so zoned in on the turkeys I didn't even realize I'd taken this photo of a deer and turkeys until I downloaded the pictures. It is always nice to manage a shot of a deer and turkey at the same time!

Looking for Love

Spring brings with it all sorts of things, including unlucky tom turkeys who are trying hard to gain the affection of a hen.

The object of his desire

She walks away.

 

Turkeys Like the Birdfeeder

 

Turkeys at the Window

 

Peaceful Scene

I can't often get all the critters in one shot like this. Deer and turkey in the front field.

Turkeys in the Rain

A Flock of Turkeys

Too-Late Tom

Mating season for turkeys is nearly over, but this poor tom hasn't picked up on the hints yet. He has been strutting in my backyard every morning for a week. This morning I saw a hen walk past him as if he wasn't standing there in all his glory, doing his best Elvis impression to woo the ladies.

He looks pretty handsome to me.

I love this shot with the sun on his tail feathers.

His head thrusts out when he goes to gobble.

Another Gobbler

Gobbler in the woods.

How Turkeys Mate

This morning I saw a first - I saw a gobbler catch his hen and have his way with her.

It started out odd. The hen was on the ground in front of the gobbler, almost like she'd bowed down to him. Then he climbed on top of her. I was watching from a window and I confess my first thought was, "What the hell is going on?" and then I realized, as I watched the gobbler start to thrust, that they were having sex.

I had not given much thought to how turkeys have sex.

It went on long enough for me to leave the bedroom and into my office to grab a camera and get back to the window in time to take about 35 photos. I mean, how often do you get to see this?

Like, next to never.

This is from a science website:

"If the female turkey is receptive to his advances she will lower herself in front of the male. The male hops up on top of the female to mate with her. Sperm is transferred from the male's cloaca to the female's cloaca. The cloaca is the name for the vent that leads to the turkeys' sex organs. The turkeys place their vents next to each other in order to allow the transference of sperm."

So that is what I was watching in scientific terms.

Holy cow. Or maybe "totally turkey."

Mr. Tom Takes a Strut

Two Friends Out For A Stroll

A little walk along the fence row.

 

They really do come up quite close to the house.

February Tom Turkeys