Baltimore Oriole

We were  delighted to receive a visit from a Baltimore Oriole several times in Bird Alley this past week.  At first the peanut feeder seemed to be its favouirite go to location.  However, it was very attracted to the hummingbird feeder and attempted to feed there.  I recalled having heard that grape jelly was a  favoured food for orioles so I had some and decided to place a few tablespoons of jelly on a saucer.  The jelly was well received and appreciated by the oriole. The next day the jelly was all gone, with a little help from a Chipmunk as we watched as one nibbled at the jelly.  For two days we put out grape jelly and both days the jelly was all gone.  We had a hummingbird feeder hanging on our clothesline and the Oriole was quite successful there getting some nectar as the feeder jiggled  when the Oriole nudged it and the nectar within was easily jiggled out within easy reach of  the oriole.  That feeder is now empty also..I think that orange guy had quite the sweet tooth!

The Oriole did not lack socialibility as within the times of its visit a little Indigo Bunting showed up to share a few feeder tidbits with the Oriole.

 I haven't seen the Oriole since Friday so I am assuming its visit is now over. However it was a lovely visit for us sitting inside viewing its beauty through our windows.

Northern Paraula for Saturday Critters

Its warbler season and today I am sharing this Northern Parula on Eileen's Saturday Critters.  Eileen's Saturday Critters can be found at viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.ca

A Muskrat for Saturday Critters

I love to find other critters other than birds out in the wild and yesterday I found a muskrat swimming in a large pond area. he first thing I did was look for the tail

to tell me if it was a beaver ( flat tail) or a muskrat ( skinny tail) and when I saw the tail I knew it wasn't a beaver! as you can see from the picture above it was a Muskrat. I was sitting in my car with my window rolled down nd thus could not get a variety of pictures but I did Iwill try to get a selection of poses to post here.

I am posting today to Eileen's Saturday Critters which can be found at: viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.ca

Cowbirds

I hadn't seen a cowbird for quite a while, however yesterday afternoon I spied a grey bird in bird Alley that I was not familiar with and I finally concluded that it just might be a female cowbird!

 My id of a female cowbird was somewhat verified  shortly after when I saw a  male brown-headed Cowbird feeding in Bird Alley.

Barn Swallows

There is a pond area that I go to daily and at this time of year is is full of Tree Swallow activity, busily skimming near the water surface in search of insects. This year I have found Barn Swallows among the Tree Swallows. I have never seen Barn Swallows at this location before. It is a wonderful find for me!

the above picture  hows three  Barn swallows.the rust picture from the left and the middle one, both display the larg o wide fired TIL characteristic of Barn Swallows.

Our First Ruby-throated Hummingbird this Spring.

Hummingbirds ..
yesterday David bought a couple of new hummingbird feeders and

they are hanging in Bird Alley. I watched hopefully all afternoon yesterday but no sightings! However this morning I saw a Hummingbird in the small branches of Bird Alley, about two meters from a full, brightly coloured red feeder. I haven't seen any approach a feeder yet, but I'm quite sure it will happen sometime today. But will I be watching it at the time???? As you can see the red throat in the picture above, our first hummingbird visitor was a mle.  As the day wore on the little bird became more comfortable with our area and visited the feeder often.,  He is back visiting and feeding again this morning.

female Rose-breasted Grosbeak

I have been waiting for the arrival of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and yesterday one arrived! However it was not the handsome male with its beautiful rose coloured breast, but instead a rather plain, uninteresting female arrived yesterday afternoon and also again this morning just a few minutes ago. Hopefully its male counterpart is nearby and it will arrive soon!? 

When the male finally arrives I shall post its picture here as an update!

A RuiffedGrouse for Saturday Critters

I saw this Ruffed Grouse sauntering slowly across a country road in a treed area.  I slowed my car to very surely keep close to it taking pictures all the while. It never got scared away at any of the time. 

Locally this bird is known as a Birch Partridge, apparently this is a misnomer.
"

Ruffed grouse - New World Encyclopedia

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ruffed_grouse Dec 22, 2008 …" The ruffed grouse is frequently referred to as the "partridge" or as a "birch partridge." This is technically wrong, as partridges are unrelated …"

I am linking today to Eileen's viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.ca