2025 Graduating Class

It's been a terrific year for the birds that come to the oriole feeder; including the Baltimore and orchard orioles, indigo buntings, purple finches, catbirds, rose-breasted grosbeaks and red-bellied woodpeckers.  Sometimes a ruby-throated hummingbird will pay a call.  Anecdotally, I've observed more orchard orioles than in any previous year.  

Best of all, for a couple of weeks the fledglings of all of the foregoing are now coming to the feeders to be fed by mom and dad before figuring it out on their own.  By the time you read this I will have gone thru fifteen, 32 ounce (two pound) jars of grape jelly and a pile of navel oranges.  And taken thousands of digital images with a trail camera strapped to a post on the west side of the porch.

Anyway, here's a selection of this year's graduating class since the last time I've reported on the subject.

Fun Fact: Fledglings of these species oftentimes look like females.  They're all adult-sized. Male orchard orioles share the coloration of a female (the lack the distinctive ruddy brownish red of an adult male) but share the distinctive black hood and bib of an adult male. 

Update From The Oriole Ranch

As per usual there are a couple of oriole feeders out.  And the one on the west side of the porch has a trail camera mounted on the post opposite of its location.  It attracts more than just Orioles.

Male and female Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings, Catbirds, Purple Finches and a Red-bellied Woodpecker for good measure.  

Some recent photos of feeder action for your viewing pleasure.  This year's crop of fledglings should be arriving in just about a week...

 

 

Smile For the Camera

Migratory bird life around here is almost complete.

After spotting a rose-breasted grosbeak the very next day the orioles and hummingbirds materialized.  The brown thrashers have been here awhile, the catbirds can be heard calling and for the first time ever a red-headed woodpecker has been a regular visitor to the feeders in the yard.

 

Sunday I fetched one of the trail cameras from the woods and mounted it on a post on the west side of the porch with a clear view of a feeder stocked with half of a fresh orange and generic grape jelly.

The Oriole Cam is back in business for the duration of the season....

The Oriole Ranch

A wee bit of whimsy from the Oriole Ranch....

 

The Oriole Ranch

Yesterday I opened the second jar of grape jelly for 2020.  In a typical season of oriole feeding we will go thru eleven to seventeen 30 ounce jars of store brand (generic) Concord Grape Jelly.  I know this because I've kept a record of this beginning 2016.  

Did you know that Baltimore orioles have a habit of returning to the general vicinity of where they were born?  That's what ornithologists believe.  They do not utilize old nests; nevertheless, there is some territorial instinct to return.  

It might also have something to do with the sumptuous buffet that bird watchers set for these colorful visitors.

Anyway, it's been a quiet couple of days without the construction crew around here and the birds are taking advantage of the break in commotion to visit the feeders.  

With lighting condition optimal late yesterday afternoon I turned-on the bird camera for three hours generating 244 individual motion-activated digital photos.

Here's a handful for your viewing pleasure..... 

Boy Baltimore

Boy and girl Baltimore

Catbird and girl Baltimore

Battle of the sexes

Still waiting to capture a decent photo of the grosbeaks and the orchard orioles.

Stay-tuned.....