Tom

I recently went out hunting for birds and animals to shoot with my Nikon AK-47. It rained most of the time. I came home with very little to show for it. As I was unloading the camper I noticed a hen turkey under one of our bird seed feeders on our deck. And beyond her over the fence was this handsome Tom. I took dozens of shots of him from the deck and den window. He did hide some behind trees, but his twitterpation for his hen kept bringing him back. He fluffed, fanned and strutted his stuff wonderfully. The hen didn't seem all that impressed.....

 

He had an remarkable "wattle and snood."

From Wikipedia: "Males, called toms or gobblers, have a large, featherless, reddish head, red throat, and red wattles on the throat and neck. The head has fleshy growths called caruncles. When males are excited, a fleshy flap on the bill expands, and this, the wattles and the bare skin of the head and neck all become engorged with blood, almost concealing the eyes and bill. The long fleshy object over a male's beak is called a snood. When a male turkey's excited, its head turns blue; when ready to fight, it turns red.

 

He must have been excited cause his colors were brilliant.

 

I'll post more images of them in the days ahead. Seems many of my best critter shots are right here at home........

 

Thanks for peeping at Tom!

 

 

Done