The wild Turkey hen sitting on her eggs early May, she sat on those eggs for so long the vegetation grew up around her and you could barely see her.
When I was gone for the Topliine show the eggs hatched and they all split. Ten eggs and she made it with out me giving her food or water. I have seen some Toms around but no hens and certainly no chicks.
Do you think this is a picture of nothing? Well think again…
Kira would call this a serious problem. It did get blown down after last weekends storm, but no luck finding it. Even worse news I manged to get second ball tangled up in a tree.
Some Robins. A few days old, I would guess. The turtles have come up from the pond and are busy laying their eggs.
Wow that was a long time. I had no idea they sat that long. Ok I must be missing something with the picture of nothing? Your house in in the background although very camouflaged, or what else is it?
Do I see a ball way up at the top hanging off the dead limb? Shall I ask who had a terrible pitch?
Robins: I enjoyed seeing robins each day while I was in Pittsburgh for NUSC. In FL I see robins for one or two days in January as they pass through. Robins apparently do not live in FL.
Turkey & Chicks: She will start making her rounds with the chicks in tow. If you get an opportunity to observe the interaction, take the time to do so. Here, all moms and chicks band together for protection. There are one or two kidless hens who act as sentry. When mom gives the command to down and stay, the chicks obey immediately. I wonder if the hen would like to take in some clients? 😉
Great photos, Julie.
What a shame you missed them hatch. I wonder if they normally sit that long? We have a couple of swans that return to the lake each year. This year she seemed to sit so much longer than normal. We wondered if it was because of the cooler wather??? Just like Carole said about the turkey making her rounds with the chicks in tow, the swans paraded their cygnets, you could actually see how proud they were. Unfortunately this year, within a week, they were all gone – we have a number of snapping turtles in the lake and with the water being so high, it was much easier for them to reach up and snatch them from the nest.
I had to go back to the photograph of the trees after I saw the closeup of the ball hanging on the branch, to see what I’d missed! How did it get way up there?
Female wild turkeys lay 10 to 12 eggs over a period of about two weeks. After the last egg is laid, she begins sitting on the eggs constantly to incubate them. She sits of the eggs for 26 to 28 days and will only leave occasionally for a short period to feed.
References:
National Wild Turkey Federation: Wildlife Bulletin No. 1: Eastern Wild Turkey
Read more: Does a female wild turkey sit on eggs all day? | Answerbag http://www.answerbag.co.uk/q_view/2131851#ixzz1OJNMV5Qw
My old faithful Labrador Retriever, Orion, who passed away in 2005 was VERY attached to his “Water Kong” (a kong on a rope). He carried it everywhere with him. MANY times I somehow managed to get it tangled up in trees and he would sit and look up at it and bark. We had to do several “rescues” by throwing sticks and rocks up at it until hitting it right to get it to fall! I don’t think it was ever as high as Kira’s ball!