Monday, June 1, 2009

Peacock …they free range at my sister’s place

My Sister has a very nice place at the end of the road with state land on 2 sides. She also likes to have her animals free range. She keeps a feeder full for the ducks, turkeys, chickens, guinea hens, and peacocks. Wild turkey, deer and wild hogs also roam in and out.5.7.09 037cs

There are a couple of males, but this one has the biggest set of tail feathers. 5.23.09 058cs He was more than willing to strut his stuff…but dropped his tail feathers as soon as I tried to approach.5.7.09 051cs

They roost in the trees. Sometimes they sit on the outbuildings. This is one of the other males. You can see he doesn’t have his full growth of tail feathers.5.2.09 JoAnnes 023

They eat a lot of insects, small frogs etc, spiders, even mice. So it’s good to have them around. They do like to eat flower parts also. Not too good for the garden.

They make great watch dogs. Their very loud cry sounds like someone yelling “heeeeeelp”, heeeeeelp. 

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When he took the time to preen himself, I was able to snap several photos.5.23.09 102cs

The colors he sports on his body are beautiful. There is such  a variety of feathers.5.23.09 113cs Here’s a close up of his head. Don’t you just love the little feather top knot?5.23.09 118cs

This Peahen didn’t want me to get too close to here 3 little ones, and I didn’t press the issue. 5.23.09 142cs

They are big birds. About the size of a turkey. I wish my camera could pick up the iridescent color of the feathers when the sun shines on them. They are absolutely dazzling.

I took those pictures last week. I have been hearing a Peacock call in the morning and was hoping that one day it would follow the wild turkeys in.

Last evening a pair strolled up the drive and all around our yard. I think they roosted nearby because I heard their call just before daylight when all the birds are starting to say hello. I made my morning rounds with a handful of corn tossed in the areas each of the rabbits like to feed in, and now I have to feed the squirrels a bit, since they can no longer raid the bird feeder. I love that new “squirrel proof” feeder.  I think it might be starling proof too. Had a big black bird here a few days ago and he couldn’t figure out how to get onto it. But I’ll need to see how a flock does when they arrive..so that’s a story for another day.

I sat down to enjoy my morning coffee and Peacocks showed up. I took this through the screen on the back porch. I didn’t want to discourage them. I’ll get better pictures if they continue to come back. They found the deck interesting and both came up and walked around on it.Peacocks in the yard 008cs

This is the Peahen in the front yard. They didn’t seem interested in the corn I put out for the squirrels, and were down by the turkey feeder in the back yard ,but didn’t stop to eat. They may be looking for a place to nest. I hope they like the woods around us.

Peacocks in the yard 024cs

14 comments:

  1. They are such a gorgeous bird. Love the two close-up shots of their head. The blue color really pops. I hope they nest near you! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful series of photos.
    Mona

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  2. Beautiful, Carol.. Your sister is lucky to have a place where her critters can roam freely.

    Gorgeous Peacocks.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  3. They are beautiful birds. Lovely photography

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  4. Wonderful post! How exciting to have peacocks wander into your yard. All the photos are very good, but I especially like the closeup of the head. What beautiful colors they have.

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  5. I grew up in Arcadia, California and my neighborhood was next to the county arboretum. We had peacocks ALL OVER our area~! I really miss their cries. They were spooky on Halloween, but, like you mentioned, they are excellent watchdogs. Out here in the desert, many ranches have them around to help keep an eye on things! Yes, they are beautiful birds! HA, I used to feed them and grab their tail feathers then they turned their backs to me (the males)! Wasn't I BAD??? I used to have quite a collection of peacock feathers, at one time. Thanks for the memories.

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  6. Great photo opportunities! Lovely place with lovely birds!

    Daniel
    www.natureatcloserange.com

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  7. Fabulous colours in the close ups Carol. Just love those eyes in the tail.

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  8. You captured the color of those Peacocks so nicely-gorgeous shots!

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  9. I would say you did an excellent job taking these pictures. I like them and the colors seem OK to me. I think it depends more on the light than the camera. Your camera seems to be one of the best. Maybe the angle of the sun was off a bit. Still, I think they are fine and they look great to me and the details are amazing.

    Abraham Lincoln
    My Birds Blog

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  10. Great shots! How great it must be to have those birds just down the road, too!

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  11. Our first visit to your blog ,very nice photos! Will be following:)

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  12. it looks so marvelous...
    very nice photos..........
    loved seeing those wonderful peacocks..
    cheers!!

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  13. Wow, lucky you! Can hardly imagine seeing peacocks in the wild.... and chicks too. Love the details in the close up shot.

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