Baltimore Oriole feeds nestlings in nest

Wandering down the street near my brother’s weekend house in Lancaster, PA, I found this beautiful Baltimore Oriole’s nest and the adults feeding the nestlings. This is the first Oriole I have ever encountered and I was stunned by how beautiful it is.

Baltimore Oriole feeding one of its young.

A Baltimore Oriole adult feeding on of its young at the jelly feeder in our backyard. We get quite a few Orioles at our feeder every summer. This year, the first ones showed up around April 25th, the last one spotted was around September 5th. It’s sort of neat to see the adults come with juveniles in tow to feed them. It takes a while for the juveniles to learn how to use the feeder on their own. It’s interesting to watch. Eventually they figure it out!

Baltimore Oriole

For a lovely week in July, this baby Baltimore Oriole and the adult male absolutely delighted me with their presence!

Baltimore Oriole Nest

This is a nice Autumn view of what was once a busy Baltimore Oriole Nest. Note the blue material strung throughout. This has been used for the past three years. I have yet to determine where the birds find it.

Baltimore Orioles eating grape jelly

Beauty of Songbirds

Beauty of Songbirds in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Oranges attract more than you think!!

I’ve noticed around 5 different species that like oranges, so… if you want to attract more birds, you gotta put out the oranges! 🙂

Looks Like We Will Be Having Baby Downy Woodpeckers This Year!

I was watching the female Downy Woodpecker as she ate from the suet feeder. Suddenly, a male flew up and scared her away. Then a female Baltimore Oriole flew up and scared him away. I happened to look out my window at the oak, and I saw both Downy Woodpeckers sitting on the dead limb. I glimpsed a blur of feathers, and it took me a second to comprehend that they were mating! I’m so excited that I caught that out in the wild!!! Ive seen Barn Owls and Bald Eagles mating on camera, but I’ve never seen it with my own eyes out in nature! It was so cool! I have seen the Downy Woodpeckers pecking at it, but they were moving up and down the branch, so I thought they were only searching for bugs. I’m thinking about climbing that tree in search of a nest cavity, but I don’t want to have to go to all that work to drag a heavy ladder up to it if there’s no nest, so do birds typically only mate at or near the nest site, or do they mate wherever?

Orange you beautiful?

Sweet grape jelly and juicy naval oranges are irresistible for this brilliantly colored Baltimore Oriole!

Big Birding Day (Part 1)

The Baltimore Orioles are BACK!!!

Finally! The Baltimore Orioles are back! My brother spotted the male, and I spotted the female!

Baltimore Oriole fledgling

Baltimore Oriole nest

The nest was created on a birch tree branch

Female Baltimore Oriole

Baltimore Oriole

Taken 5/14/2018

Practice Session

I’ve been monitoring Baltimore Orioles, daily, in my yard, on 1-2 Wingscapes bird Cams, since the first arrival on Labor Day, 2016. During this time I’ve seen some interesting behavior, and have been able to identify, by markings, many individuals over the 8 month period. This was special, as it was the last Baltimore Oriole, on the last day of the fall/winter season, in Florida, before departing for her breeding grounds, up north. I assume, triggered by hormones, this oriole had a little “practice” session of nest building. Wishing her a safe journey!

Baltimore Oriole male-Central Texas

Lucky shot! Caught a female Lesser Goldfinch coming in for a landing on the platform of the male Baltimore Oriole’s grape jelly. He seems to be watching her closely, guarding his treat.
This is the 2nd year in a row, same week of September that I’ve seen Baltimore Orioles in my backyard during their fall migration. Saw a female a couple of weeks ago. Same thing last year. Perhaps the females migrate earlier than the males?

Baltimore Oriole Male Juvenile

I really like the colour on this one. I have never seen such a mixture on a young oriole.
Taken with my brand new Nikon P900 camera. It was on the tree top so I was at maximum zoom of 2000mm

Oriole nest

While fishing along the Columbia River, I spotted this oriole’s nest made from discarded fishing line with hooks in it!

Feeding Time

I followed an idea I found on Facebook, hollowing out an orange and filling with peanut butter, orange pulp ad bird seed. Five minutes later, we had countless visitors to our home made feeder.

Feeding Time at the Grape Jelly Store

Young birds from my deck.

I discovered the Oriole nest a week before these pictures. It was a steady rotation of the parents in and out feeding the babies. The next day after these images were taken a severe windstorm battered the nest. The next morning the parents came to the tree and called, but there was no feeding activity.

I have a honeysuckle bush that has become the residence of two baby Eastern Kingbirds. The parents spend a lot of time between feeding the young and chasing off interlopers. A grey squirrel learned not to venture too close.

New Orioles

Baltimore Oriole nest

What a surprise find this nest was! We had seen the male oriole around but had no idea that it had a nest. The nest is very neatly constructed, it looks like the birds built a pouch of grass then tied it in the tree! The eggs were already hatched when we found it and the parents are busy feeding the babies.

Fledgling Baltimore Oriole

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Cornell Lab of Ornithology