Update From The Oriole Ranch

Business here at the Oriole Ranch has been slow of late.

 

When the orioles first arrived - activity on the feeders was fast and furious. The hungry migrators were intent-upon gorging on fruit and grape jelly.

 

With the orioles raising their broods their feeding habits have switched to abundant high protein insects and insect larvae as they rear their young high in the tree canopy. They continue to visit early and late in the day - but only sporadically.

 

 

Predictably, by July the adults will return with their fledglings to introduce them to the decadence of grape jelly and oranges. 

 

This is always a hoot because the fledglings will find a perch and beg mom or dad to feed them. By the time they’ve figured out how to feed themselves the orioles beat it out of Dodge to wing their way to their wintering grounds.

 

Last to arrive and first to depart. 

 

Baltimore in the foreground - red-bellied woodpecker in the background

In the interim, the red-bellied woodpeckers continue to come around to indulge their sweet tooth.  With all the dead and dying ash on the landscape the resident woodpecker population has soared to record numbers.

 

Side Note:  Indigo bunting sightings continue to grow year-over-year.  Uncommon a dozen years ago nowadays they are a daily delight.  I've learned that the  prior year recruiting class of this species have a tendency to return to within a half-mile of the location they fledged.  We suspect we've slowly but surely encouraged a localized population to take hold.

 

Who knew?

 

A few more action shots...