Orioles

r



We had a very colourful oriole show up at the tray feeder this weekend- so colourful that I was wondering if it could be a tanager (which would be a first here for us). We put some grape jelly on the well to get a closer look. Dave is sure it's just individual variation of a Baltimore, but I'm still not 100% sure.



Another Oriole came up, so you can see the differences between the two of them.





Something else interesting was that a wasp was attracted to the jelly and the oriole (possible/probable oriole??) quickly moved her and grabbed it out of the air and killed it. I'm not sure if she ate it or not since it all happened very quickly.

We're very excited that we got some close-up looks at these beautiful birds.

Hummingbirds

Still quite a bit of hummingbird activity. We are seeing them in the front yard more and more and we're wondering if they are migrating hummingbirds who are travelling through and aren't aware of the feeders out back. There has been lots of chasing each other around too, so perhaps our residents don't like sharing resources.


Brittney took all of these shots in our yard of various hummingbirds feeding. I really like the female at the bee balm (purple flowers)- she looks surprised that the bloom comes off and gets stuck on her beak.



We are also wondering if this is a juvenile male- it looks like traces of the ruby-throat are coming in.



They are also enjoying the sugar water feeder at the bathroom window. We have strategically placed some plants indoors on the ledge to create a bit of a blind so we can sit and watch them without scaring them off. It's nice to wake up and see one of these birds first thing.

More August gems

Brittney was out back with the camera, came in with some pics and asked us what this one was:

Well, we are fairly certain it's a female Indigo Bunting! This is our first time seeing a female and definitely our first picture of it. Nice one B!!


She also got some great shots of a pair of Downey Woodpeckers working their way up the blackberry lattice in the back garden (we usually don't see these guys out back very often) and in and around the vegetable gardens.



We had an all time high August Baltimore Oriole count of 5! They were at the orange and grape jelly feeders. Usually one orange (cut in half) will last us a few days, but they have been going through an entire orange every day for the last few days. Last year we only saw these Orioles for a short time and they were gone, so it's exciting to know that they must have nested nearby and are still around.

Hawk-watch 09

The hawk continues to patrol the feeders. On Thursday, we saw him on the poles nearby the house.
On Friday, we saw him out front again. He swooped down by the lilac shrubs (where the house sparrows tend to congregate) and had a meal. Dave walked out along the fence an got some pics.





Later on Friday, we saw him on the back fence.



On Sunday, he was back again. We saw him in the front yard, in the tree behind the house and even standing up on the nesting box in the backyard while Brit, Lola and I were just a few feet away. He watched us for about a minute and then took off (before B was able to get a shot of him so close to us). It's been pretty cool to see him around so much and so close.

Juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk

Brittney and my brother saw this hawk hanging around the front yard this morning. He got close up and was waiting for activity at the feeders to resume. Before he had the chance to get some lunch, he was mobbed by a group of Blue Jays. They chased him out of the yard and he went across the road into a neighbour's tree. We lost sight of him after that. Hopefully he'll get a chance to eat soon, although I'm glad he didn't get one of our regulars. Here are some wonderful shots taken by B and my brother: