The Oriole Cam

Backyard bird report.

It would appear that the redwing blackbirds have left for the season.  Same for the tree swallows.  Off to southern coastal states, Mexico and Central America.  Jill spotted bluebirds in the bird bath.  The robins continue picking-about in the yard.  Cardinals, kingbirds, hummers and goldfinches are everywhere, warblers are passing-thru. It's been the best year in memory for indigo buntings, purple finches and orchard orioles.  And with all the dead and dying ash on the landscape woodpeckers rule the world around here.

The orioles are still hanging-around but they're not long for this neighborhood and will be departing before too long.  And the porch camera will likely be redeployed somewhere in the woods.

Meanwhile, the grape jelly has been removed as it's been attracting bald-faced hornets; and those buggers are sociopaths.

Last batch of photos.....

 

   

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...

 

 

The Oriole Ranch

The Oriole feeder has been deployed for a couple of weeks already and a spare trail camera strapped to a porch post has been offering-up a couple of batches of images worth sharing. 

Here's a double fistful of images illustrating the variety of species attracted to garden-variety concord grape jelly and a navel orange. It's not just orioles.

As time passes I'll post new (and old species) and any good action shots.....

Male Baltimore and orchard orioles

Female Baltimore oriole

Male house finch

Female Rose-breasted grosbeak

Male ruby-throated hummingbird

Female indigo bunting

Male indigo bunting

Orchard oriole and Downy woodpecker 

Coming in for a landing

Take-off!

 

Collage

Nice AI-generated collage of songbirds captured last summer on the Oriole Cam situated on the west side of the porch.

The orioles are the last to arrive and the first to depart.

Thanks Google Photos..... 

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...

 

 

 

 

 

Update From The Oriole Ranch

Some more shots of various song birds visiting the irresistible feeder on the west side of the porch.

Predictably, action has slowed considerably in the last week compared to the rush of business immediately following the arrival of these hungry birds. 

Nests are built, and they're preoccupied with setting on their eggs or feeding newly hatched babies.

All of this is predictable.

The selection below includes male and female Baltimore Orioles, Orchard Orioles and Indigo Buntings.

Use your bird ID skills to pick them out of the line-up...