Last week was a very busy week at the backyard feeders. I was still waiting for the Orioles to migrate back and hoping they would stop by and maybe nest in one of our trees.
It had been about two weeks since I started “oranging up” the yard. The first grouping of oranges had started to dry out, so I put out new clementine halves at each feeding area. I also put a little scoop of raspberry jam in some of the dried out orange halves (because the skins had formed a natural nectar cup).
About a day later, I saw some activity…but it turned out some other visitors also happen to like oranges:
And not just papa cardinal…momma was hungry, too.
It’s pretty awful when you start taking Cardinals for granted; they’re such beautiful birds! But, I couldn’t help looking for you-know-who.
Then, right after Mrs. Cardinal left the feeder, my guest of honor arrived!
And then another…
and they came back for more…
All day long the feeders were busy…I also spied a female oriole, but wasn’t fast enough to snap her picture.
This fellow spent almost the entire day snacking and resting.
And, apparently, I spent most of my day at the window!
I’ve been wanting to see a Baltimore oriole all my life.
I live in Towson, Maryland. This is my year to do it. Thanks for the tip on oranging up my back yard. I bought orange spray paint today.
Sincerely,
Michael Haviland
Seriously?! I think you can skip the spray paint and thread orange halves on branches. All the birds will love them.
I love birds. I enjoy watching them. I have a gourd hanging right out my backdoor for about 4 yrs now–since day one–wrens have made it home. They are so cute & tiny.
I have about 14 cardinals all yr long, if not more. I live in Pa. So every spring I have the Jersey bird for the summer(goldfinch) I also have blue bunting usually for 2 day at the most. I have never seen as oriole. Would love to know if they come this way. I’ll have to get some reading in to find out. I enjoy your blog.
Hi, Kathy,
Thank you for taking the time to comment and for your nice words. This blog is kind of all over the board, but that’s EXACTLY like me, lol. It means a lot to know that you like it!!!
I’ve never seen a bunting…looked them up on AllAboutBirds.org (Cornell Site); what beautiful colors! We get a lot of goldfinches, too. Never saw the orioles until my neighbor clued me into them 🙂
Thank you for visiting!!