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.....

 

   

Sunrise Bird

Sometimes one of the trail cameras delivers something with an artistic flair. 

 

It’s all unintentional and unstaged - pure chance.

 

Like this turkey walking towards ‘the light’….

 

Red Fox

Interesting to me is the anecdotal evidence of increasing fox sightings around these parts.....

 

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..... 

Wile E. Coyote

And how about a little local coyote action?

Wile E. Coyote

This local apex predator hasn't been shy about showing-up on the trail cameras.

 

Mostly (but not always) after dark.

Thankfully, none of them is carrying dynamite with him..... 

 

Waving The White Flag

Haven't any idea what spooked this doe - but this is something most hunters grow accustomed-to.

The backside of a whitetail wagging their tail as the beat it out of Dodge.

 

Wile E. Coyote

Never walk your dog around here without a firearm.

Serengeti

When I first uploaded this photo taken by trail camera #5 I thought - What the heck?  Is that animal a cross between a whitetail and a giraffe?  

If so, it was a monumental continental leap.

It is the result of a perfect combination of sunlight dappled through tree leaves and shadowed on a doe.

It's an interesting photographic result.

You never know what a trail camera will capture.  One day it might be alien spaceship thruster backwash; another day it is something found on the Serengeti.....

Break Time

From trail camera three there was a bazillion photos.  I'm exaggerating.  Something on the order of 650; far more than the usual 300+ captured over a period of a couple of weeks.

That is because a solitary doe decided to bed-down directly in front of the camera for more than an hour (check the time stamp) and record several hundred selfies before getting-up and moving-on.

This has happened several times before.

The animal isn't actually sleeping.

Just taking a pause for the cause....

Update From The Oriole Ranch

Our first oriole sighting was Wednesday.  So I deployed a grape jelly feeder outside the kitchen window at the southeast corner of the porch.

Yesterday, there were orioles coming to the west side of the house looking for a grape jelly and orange treat that wasn't there.  

Do they remember from one year to the next?  Are they habituated to a feeder location?

So I deployed the second feeder there where it belongs.  Including a Moultrie trail camera.

 

And sure as shooting we've got birds coming to both locations now.

Check-in periodically for an update from the oriole ranch...

Trail Camera Action

Daytime deer movement.

It's a beautiful thing to see...

 

Traffic Jam

Last Saturday the dog and I ran the trail camera trap line and collected hundreds of images to be discarded.  To be fair, some were worth saving and possibly publishing here or on Face Book.

This particular camera is always a busy location - both day and night.

Interesting to me are these three photos taken within a couple of hours of one another.  A cat, a coyote and a skunk.  There were a pile a deer too but they're not pictured as deer are cheap.  Picture-wise.  

Anyway, you'd think that with all the wildlife traffic here at my woodland version of Piccadilly Circus There might be a need for a traffic cop...

The Pack Is Back

Rather decent series of photos of our resident coyotes. 

Daylight setting, late in the day.  perfect composition for a cheap trail camera.

If you look carefully at the last photo one of the parents is playing with the pups using a stick.

Some things never change....

 

 

Report From The Oriole Ranch

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. 

 

Bluebirds are still around. With the recent rains the robins are picking-about in the yard. Cardinals, hummers, king birds, catbirds, and goldfinches are everywhere. It's been another banner year for indigo buntings 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.

 

Photos from this last week and prior.....

 

 And check-out those hydrangeas in the background!

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...