Feeder notes, June 11-14, 2006
I was finally able to capture a picture of the male oriole which has been frequenting our feeders. He has been eating the sunflower seeds which drop under the ground feeder, but we finally decided to cut up an orange for him. He never took it off the platform feeder, but when we placed it on the ground, he devoured the offering. He didn’t even seem to mind me at the window photographing him.
We have a female which frequents our suet feeder as well. She generally eats hanging upside down. While she is shy around us and takes flight at the slightest motion near the sliding glass door we are watching her through, she stands her ground against the red-winged blackbird which occasionally tries to oust her from her perch.
We never see the two together, but assume they are a pair. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to find their nest! We have only looked at pictures of the beautiful baskets they weave. Their beautiful song also fills the air while I am outside tending to the feeders and our gardens. You can learn more here and also listen to a recording of their song.
The sparrows appear to be almost finished raising their broods. The fledglings have begun visiting the feeders. They stand on our back porch, fluttering their wings wildly until an adult hops over and feeds them. They will stand in a pile of spilled seeds and still wait for someone to give them food!
The baby squirrels are getting big, and we are strongly considering investing in a single pole to hang all of our feeders from as well as a squirrel baffle. They are eating entirely too much sunflower seed! Other than that, there hasn’t been any real excitement this week.
Related Tags: Baltimore Oriole, oriole, birdwatching, birding, backyard birding
October 16th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Perhaps the bird in the photo is a towhee, a wonderful little creature. Towhees like to scratch flowerbeds like little chickens kicking pine needle mulch onto the lawn, and often work in pairs. Their call is characteristic.