Turkeys

This Saturday is the start of the state wild turkey hunting season and these birds have been taunting me for the last week. If they follow the same game plan they used last year, I'll won't see them at all on Saturday.

Turkeys

This year's brood for wild turkeys is getting big, and so is their appetite. Fortunately for the turkeys, their increased appetite coincides with the late summer hatch of grasshoppers. It's feeding time and heads are down.



With their gizzards full, it's time to find a cool/shady spot for an afternoon nap.

Turkeys

This group of six (6) male turkeys survived the spring gobbler hunting season and now enjoy a tasty snack of grasshoppers.

Another Sign of Spring

The warm spring weather has gobblers strutting as they try to attract hens. The first photo shows a gobbler strutting past some grazing deer as he makes a "beeline" to the other side of the field. The second photo shows the reason for his rush to the other side of the field. On the ridge he joins another gobbler with a flock of hens.
 
The two gobblers zero in on a couple of hens as they try to impress the hens with their dance moves.

Time to relax

With Thanksgiving over and the fall turkey season closed, this flock of turkeys was taking it easy and enjoying the mild December weather.

Turkeys

The turkey sightings in the neighborhood are increasing as the turkeys get less timid. Earlier this year the turkeys would run for cover when they saw someone, but now they casually walk away and sometimes even pose for the camera.



I've been able to identify two different flocks of hens with poults. The one group spends most of its time on the east side of Joyce Road while the other flock prefers the west side of the road.



Hardly a day goes by that I don't see at least one of the flocks somewhere on our property.



Out for their daily walk and looking for a quick meal, these young birds should know their way around the neighborhood before winter (and hunting season).

Turkeys

The turkey population in the neighborhood is looking better than it did this spring when very few turkeys were seen. The turkeys are less timid now and these turkeys were in the lawn at our barn while I was working in front of the barn.



I was able to walk from the barn to my truck, to get my camera, while the turkeys feed in the lawn 30 yards away. The turkeys continued to feed in the field next to our garden.

BTW - A bumper crop of tomatoes this year.

Turkeys

While driving up Joyce Road, heading for our cabin, I noticed some movement at our barn. I stopped the truck and found a flock of turkeys checking out my old John Deere tractor.



After watching the turkeys at our barn, I continued to drive to our cabin and found another flock of turkeys at our cabin.

Turkeys

While driving to our cabin this morning we spotted a flock of turkeys walking on the access road to the pipeline valves. After stopping at the cabin, we then drove along the access road toward the pipeline valves and found the turkeys in the field enjoying the beautiful day.

Turkeys

As we were driving to the barn this morning we found these hen turkeys and poults standing in Joyce Road.



As we watched, a neighborhood bobtail cat approached the turkeys. The turkeys didn't seem too alarmed by the cat.



Maybe the cat and turkeys are friends since this is the second time I've seen them meet and both times the turkeys walked toward the cat.



After a short visit with the cat, the turkeys continued across Joyce Road and up Harley and Barb Kay's driveway.

More Turkeys

After checking the water level in the pond at our cabin, I found these two hen turkeys near the food plot.


They walked along the cabin driveway toward our cabin and then slipped into the overgrown field.



I left the cabin and drove to the pipeline valve site and found 8 "Tom" turkeys picking through the straw that had been placed on the newly regraded area near the valves. I watched the turkeys from the top of the hill and after about 20 minutes they laid down in the pipeline right-of-way for an afternoon rest.



In the evening, we drove back to the pipeline valve site and found two hens with several poults (young turkeys) feeding along the access road.

Turkeys

I drove up to the pipeline valve site to check on some regrading that was done yesterday. As soon as I arrived at the valve site a flock of turkeys walked out of the woods and into the pipeline right-of-way.



As I sat in my truck and watched, the turkeys worked their way around the valves as they feed.


After a half hour of feeding the turkeys wandered off, into the brush.

Turkeys

With the hay fields mowed I'm starting to see more turkeys moving in the fields. I spotted this pair of "jakes" across the road from our barn while driving down Joyce Road.



The turkeys ran back and forth across Rose Ellis' lawn before they decided it was safe to cross the road.



The turkeys eventually crossed Joyce Road and ran across the field below our barn. Later in the day I saw the pair resting in a field behind our barn.

Turkeys

While I was preparing to do some work at our barn I notice two hen turkeys and 15 young poults in our field. The poults feeding on bugs and would form an evenly spaced line as they worked their way across the field.



When the turkeys reached the end of the field they would swing around 180 degrees and work back across another section of the field.



As the turkeys were feeding in the field, a neighborhood cat approached the field from the tall grass. The two hens immediately approached the cat and forced it to leave the field.

Turkey Hunting Problem

We've all heard the story of the boy that went to school and told the teacher that the dog ate his homework. I went turkey hunting and a bear ate my decoy.

It's the start of the second week of spring turkey hunting season and I was up early this morning to try my luck at finding a gobbler. I had placed 5 decoy birds in a field before daybreak and positioned myself in a hedgerow 100 yards away. The plan was to draw a gobbler past my hiding place on his way to the decoys but a large black bear came in before any turkeys.



The bear came in very slowly, sneaking up on the decoy.



As the bear got close to the decoy, a cub then approached.



The mother bear grabbed the decoy by it's head and soon released the untasty bird. A close up view of this photo shows the decoy's head in the bear's mouth.



Mother bear didn't taste test any more decoys and had to explain to the cub about different breakfast plans. As the mother bear and cub walked toward me, 3 more cubs came out of the woods to join them.


No real turkeys were hurt today.

King of the Hill (Bale)

How many turkeys can fit on a hay bale?

At least 10.



I was watching about 2 dozen turkeys feeding in Jason's field as one of them jumped on top of a hay bale. This soon became a game of "King of the hill" as more turkeys jumped on the bale.

What's in your backyard?

I placed a game camera in a neighbor's backyard (by their request) and got the following photos.

Mother bear with two of the five cubs. The neighbor did see these bears as they walked by a window.


Turkeys




This raccoon shows up all the time.

Turkey Nest

Since we travel back and forth on Joyce Road a lot to our different properties we've been asked several times this spring if we've seen any young turkey poults (chicks). Last Sunday I saw a half dozen hen turkeys in Jason's fields, but no poults. I may have the answer now. The hens are still sitting on their nests.

While I was mowing the small fields behind our house yesterday, I kicked a hen off her nest and missed the nest by inches with the tractor tire. I returned this morning to check on the nest and found the hen had returned. In the following picture, the nest is at the base of the tree on the right and the hen turkey is on the left, just taking off, wings raised.


The following photo shows the nest with 14 eggs in it.

Spring Turkeys

The warm weather of spring brings the mating season for wild turkeys. This is also the season for the PA spring gobbler hunt. Spring turkey hunting is allowed from sunrise to noon and sometimes I wonder if turkeys know how to tell time. While I was talking to someone in our driveway yesterday at 1:00PM I noticed 4 big gobblers, 100 yards away, out looking for hens. About 20 minutes later another big bird entered the field.


Three of the four turkeys. Click on this photo to enlarge and see the beards on the turkeys.

Hunting for dinner

While checking for spring turkey activity I spotted this fox hunting for its next meal.


Not only was I watching the fox, but a hen turkey (upper right) was also keeping an eye on the fox.


After several minutes the fox successfully caught a mouse.