Monday

The Peacocks of Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs

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This page last updated on 05/11/2019
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Picture Notes: Over the years I have visited this park more than a dozen times. Sometimes for a picnic, sometimes just to relax, enjoy the scenery and take pictures of the thousands of water fowl and many birds. On 05/10/2019, I took my sister and her husband here who were visiting from South Lake Tahoe. They loved it. As we roamed we came upon its many peacocks. Peacocks are male peafowl, a type of pheasant that also includes the female peahen. Today we got lucky and were able to observe more than one of the peacocks spreading the feathers of their fan as part of the courtship ritual they use to attract a mate. My sister loved it. Every peacock has a look all his own, made of distinct color patterns and "eyespots" scattered across the plumage. When a male courts a female, he spreads out his tail feathers to display his colors and eyespots fully for her to see. Completely fanned out, the tail spreads behind the peacock in a full semicircle, though some peacocks have tails that are bigger than others. Ultimately, the size and the patterns of the tail help her choose whether or not she'll mate with him.

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I first visited Floyd Lamb Park in early 2011. In a little over an hour on 02/06/2011, I captured 375 pictures. About half were of the peacocks, and the other half were of water fowl, mallards, snow geese, Canada geese, etc. After nearly two hours of reviewing them when I got home, I whittled this number down to around 150 and I’m still having a hard time reducing this number to just a few real good ones. Even though I had a lot of “keepers”, these two shots are two of my favorites. Click the following links to see more … The Indian Blue PeafowlsSome More Peacocks. For a detailed description of these peafowl go to ... Indian Blue Peafowl (Pavo cristatus).

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