Fighting Toms

In early April I was driving along a dirt road in Southeastern Michigan when I spotted a couple male turkeys fighting it out on the side of the road. I stopped the truck and turned off the engine to get this short video. The two turkeys were so focused on fighting with one another that they didn't seem to care that I was parked a few feet from them. There were a few other turkeys about 30 meters away from this pair. Eventually, one of the male turkeys broke off the fight and fled, with the other male chasing him.

Fighting Turkeys:

A pair of amphibian videos

On a recent trip to California, I took a few videos of the local amphibian breeding activity:

Calling Pacific Chorus Frogs: The pacific chorus frog is a common frog on the west coast of North America; its geographic range goes from British Columbia to Baja California. In the United States, it can be found in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. You can learn more about this frog at Pacific Chorus Frog Natural History.




Mating Newt Video: The California newt, Taricha torosa is only found in California. The adults congregate in streams and wetlands to breed when the winter rains arrive. They often travel long distances over land to reach the breeding ponds; you may see large groups of these newts crossing roads to get a chance to mate.

The sound of calling green frogs (Rana clamitans) Mike Benard Natural History Photos and Stories