Tuesday, March 4, 2014

March is here, So is the First Oriole

March 31, 2014

Almost the end of March - looks like three families of orioles hanging out (3 adult males seen at once, anyway).

Here is a capture from the 'Hummercam' this morning -


March has arrived, seems like it has been Spring for a while. Finally, some rain for San Diego county. We have been woefully short of normal rainfall and March is really the last chance.
The first sighting this year for Orioles was Sunday Feb 2. A bright orange and black male visited the backyard 3 times. That precipitated looking for a few good feeders, a little cleanup and fresh fill-ups. As a few more show up, I should get some fun new photos!

The hummers are still sipping 1-2 gallons/day, a pretty constant rate over the last 3-4 months. Still mostly Anna's. I did see a Rufous male zipping about a month or so ago. And I think I saw a Costa's male yesterday, those purple swooped back gorgets are striking!


Feb 14-17 was the Great Backyard Bird Count organized by the Audubon Society and Cornell Labs! I did a couple sessions in the backyard, and of course, the regulars made a good showing - common ground doves, mourning doves, lesser finches, hummingbirds, crows, ravens, red tail hawks, scrub jays, and turkey vultures. But a couple of new birds showed up - A dark eyed junco and a Great Blue Heron! He was standing on the neighbor's roof. He's almost 4 feet tall!

Sometimes, the hummers get very territorial, and here is an older male Anna's who is guarding 'his' feeder. All other males get chased away, I don't usually see them resting so close to the ground as this guy. The photo was from in the house, not very sharp image.


Here is a not too shy dark eyed junco catching a snack as I was walking by, he kept snacking!


9 comments:

  1. After reading this I put out my Oriole feeders. I am in Orange County. I saw the first male last week. He visited the feeder several times that day and then I didn't him. But a few days later I heard him in a nearby tree and saw him there. I guess he's busy with something because I haven't seen him back at the feeder again. hmmm I have had a nice little family of them the last 3 years so I guess they will be back soon.

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    1. Hi! I hope your orioles are back. It is a lot of fun watching and listening to all the chatter! Not too sure how many are visiting here now, I have seen 3 at one time - 2 adult males and 1 female or young male, not close enough to tell! We usually get 2 -3 mating pairs, then offspring. Good Luck!

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  2. He actually came back today. I was doing a lot of work
    in the garden the last few days so I may have a
    scared him off. It's still just the male though.

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  3. I just captured Male Oriole taking a bath

    http://youtu.be/U2sTkh3ne64

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    1. Nice capture, he must have been washing off a week's worth of dust!!!
      They are generally so skiddish!

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  4. Well, I was in the house peeking between the blinds using my iphone haha so it's not great--hey are skittish so I have to keep a distance. But my husband said I could use his professional camera to shoot video. He took a bath at the same time around 3pm 2 days in a row and it was after it rained last week. So I hope to catch him again with a better camera soon. I will post a link if I do.

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    1. Looking forward to it! The orioles are such clowns and so playful. You have a god vantage point. Good luck!

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  5. Just checking in here to let you know I have subscribed via email.
    But wait! There's more...
    I figured out how to leave you a comment.
    Lots of images here. Takes some time to load, but worth the wait. I like what you've done here!

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    1. Good afternoon, BC! And thanks :) I was just commenting on your magpie!
      So you are saying Google hasn't installed gigabit interwebs in your neighborhood yet?

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