We had friends over for food and drinks yesterday, and the boys started showing off naturally

[Omaha Steve]

[hlthe2b]

1. I just love the wild turkeys...

As majestic as the eagle is, I still smile when I think that Ben Franklin wanted the turkey as our national bird.

[merrily]

2. When you say you had friends over for dinner......

[jonno99]

26. Well, they appear to be FREE RANGE - so thats good! nt

[blm]

3. You've really become a solid photographer.

Heh…or your subjects are just really photogenic, heheh. ; )

[oldandhappy]

4. ahhhhh, thanks.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

5. when humans invite turkeys over for dinner

Turkeys become suspicious. Humans have turkeys for dinner too often, according to turkeys.

[A Simple Game]

40. Makes us even, this human doesn't think we have turkey for dinner often enough. n/t

[swilton]

6. Love it!

Thanks O/S!

[denbot]

7. As a trucker Wild Turkey sightings are one of my favorite things.

Is it just me, or are the ones up in Wisconsin bigger?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

11. "Wild Turkey sightings are one of my favorite things"

Mine too.



Old Crow ain't bad either.

[SoapBox]

14. ROFL

...I was waiting for this, from someone.

Thanks for the great pics OS.

[Travis_0004]

28. Hopefully not while driving a semi truck

[Spitfire of ATJ]

37. Could be worse....

[diverdownjt]

38. oh god thanx for that....

Real comedy right there...

[ReRe]

8. Now, do they jump that fence?

Dinner and a dance and then what?

[2naSalit]

9. Those show offs trying to impress the ladies...

Got a fun tale about wild turkeys...

Once upon a time I lived in a shared housing situation with a friend who lived in the hills of eastern WA. There was a large flock of turkeys who lived in the woods around the place. Six toms would roost in a tree behind the house and would roam about the yard in the day... if you think geese are messy, these birds are much worse.

One Saturday morning I awoke to some strange sound - a ruckus actually - outside so I got up to see what was going on and hoped my friend was still sleeping in his room that was closer to the noise. I stepped out on the front porch to see some forty turkeys, all females, huddled in a circle near my car in the driveway with about eight of them on the perimeter of the circle facing outward just squawking like crazy as if calling out for help or something while the rest kind of rotated in place in the tightly packed group. The six toms were doing the fan-tailed strut a little way away from them and would approach the group and try to single one out while intermittently letting out a few determined sounding gobbles. Every time they would do the gobbling thing the crowd of females would all just go crazy with noise for about 45 seconds and then calm down, except for the six or seven at the edge of the group who never got quiet. This went on for over an hour.

I thought it was hilarious as the girls seemed to be yelling about this event saying to anyone who could hear, "oh my gosh! Look what's happening over here!" And every time the toms would gobble the whole crowd would go off as if they were saying' "Oh my goodness, they're going after Mable!"

That was some twenty years ago but I still laugh about it.

They also drop some interesting feathers that would be prized by some fly-tying buffs.

[roguevalley]

12. that is so great! I love birds. what a great event to see

[HuckleB]

10. K & R!

[jwirr]

13. Beautiful. I especially love those wild turkeys.

[SHRED]

15. SHWING!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

16. Awwwwwwwww!!!!! Wild turkeys!!!

They're hilarious! ❤️

[Odin2005]

17. Those fuckers can actually FLY.

Our carpool was picking up a coworker one day and a bunch of wild turkeys were eating the fallen fruit from around his neighbor's pin cherry trees. All of a sudden one of them flies up to one of the upper branches of a tree and starts going to town on the cherries still on the tree!

[pinboy3niner]

29. Not what I heard

"The turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement!...Oh, the humanity!"

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. Benjamin Franklin wanted to make the wild turkey the national emblem. . . nt

[appalachiablue]

21. Ben sure did, interesting idea..

[Land of Enchantment]

19. Wow! Thanks Omaha Steve--you live in an interesting place

and I noticed your squirrel proof bird feeders!

[Omaha Steve]

20. We do have two squirrel feeders

They get a critter mix, one ear of corn, and fresh whole grain bread every day. Several will come up to us and beg like a dog.

Any leftovers at night go to racoons, opossums, etc.

[Omaha Steve]

22. It is sprinkling rain

I just took this a few moments ago. Those brown flower buds in front of the feeder are from one of the two Rose of Sharon shrubs we planted last year. A DUer told us hummingbirds love them.

OS

[Land of Enchantment]

27. Love it. Your feral pets are probably better fed and cared for than

most of the children on this planet. We live in the high desert near mountains and have a number of antelope and the occasional big kitty. I am awed by your wildlife and was pleasantly surprised to find this thread! Thanks!

[Omaha Steve]

30. The real estate salesman thought we could do better than this place

Last edited Mon Apr 18, 2016, 09:16 PM - Edit history (1)

The house was built in 1975. He mentioned the arches between the living and art room looked dated. I took him over to the glass wall in the dining room, pointed at the forest behind us and said "location, location, location." From then on he was on board. The wet bar was a bonus.

We have Fontenelle Forest on the other side of the fence. http://www.fontenelleforest.org/ It's marsh is in sight too. http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7728176

The Missouri River is also visible. The BNSF main line is at the bottom of the hill. I have loved trains all my life. The train tracks provided a natural fire break. IF not for that several homes could have been lost to this fire 2 years ago: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014784132

The forest had a controlled burn in early March: http://www.omaha.com/sarpy/bellevue/monday-s-controlled-burn-a-first-for-fontenelle-forest/article_2b27d7df-ef1e-5428-8a8a-a391ac92f86a.html Monday's controlled burn a first for Fontenelle Forest We have the same invasive shrubs here. I'll be taking down the ones on our property by hand. More on the burn: http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Fontenelle-Forest-burns-to-bring-new-growth--370578431.html

We are at the end of the road so it is a low traffic area.

We are here for good.

OS

[Land of Enchantment]

41. Hola OS, sorry for this late reply--

Fontenelle Forest is gorgeous. Thanks for all the links. Here are what we call the 'anchilopes' (antelopes). There is a great story about them and I can't find the newspaper link, of course....



Seems the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish had to put the brakes on feeding the anchilopes. The 'kind of out there--ok, waaaay out there' people in Santa Fe were taking food of all types to the anchilopes along the highway whenever it snowed. They were being conned by the animals as explained by the wildlife experts. STOP FEEDING THE ANTELOPE!!!! signs sprung up along the highway...

And here is a hummingbird moth (about 3&quot who loves our Russian sage in the summer! Very gentle, vary tame little guy.



Your place is gorgeous!!
Thanks for all the great photos!

And--here is one just for grins and giggles---we are about 100 miles from Roswell!!!!!


LoE

[Omaha Steve]

43. Anchilopes came out of the UFO?

Who knew?

OS

[montana_hazeleyes]

23. I just love these posts O.S.

The wild turkeys really are just gorgeous.

[Dont call me Shirley]

24. Awesome pics, OS.

[Kittycat]

25. Gorgeous!

Just beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

[GoCubsGo]

31. Turkeys are such a hoot!

I remember a number of years ago, I was out doing field work with a grad student. We were on our way to field site, when we saw a number of the boys pursuing a hen along the roadside. She sure played coy with them. She'd let them get within a few feet of her. They'd display, and she'd run about ten feet away. They'd chase her, she would act like she wanted nothing to do with them, they would display, she would run off another 10 feet... We watched them repeat the whole thing over and over for about ten minutes, until they went off into the woods where we couldn't see them. I still wonder if one of them got lucky.

[Firebrand Gary]

32. Very cool!

[MMTampa]

33. OS - your property looks like a haven

A haven for a lot of wonderful creatures. Thanks for sharing.

[gregcrawford]

34. Mature toms in full strut are SOOO cool! n/t

[Iwillnevergiveup]

35. Steve, your place

is a heavenly sanctuary for wildlife. Thanks for posting these great pictures and bon appetite.

K&R

[Omaha Steve]

44. We do lose a few birds and critters

Owls and hawks hunt in our yard. Circle of life. You can tell when they know a predator is in the area by the way they act.

[southerncrone]

36. We have the same show going on in our backyard every day now, too.

Love 'em. They embody the "dance" between the sexes so honestly! Most of the time the girls just ignore them as they become more & more obnoxious! LOL But apparently persistence pays off.

[Divernan]

39. "My tail's the biggest!" "No, mine's the biggest!"

In nature it was ever thus! I have a resident flock of turkeys who hang in my woods, and the males have been displaying and strutting up a storm the last few weeks. The females' response (they're busy eating the birdseed I put out) is, "Eh! Whatevs!"

[KamaAina]

42. Is it Thanksgiving already?

[Quayblue]

45. The older I get, the more connected I am with our fellow animals.

Thanks Steve.