Just the back yard!? Nah, I want the front and side yards landscaped in natives too.



Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Latest Attraction

I've been meaning to document the flowers of spring, the return of the bluebirds, and the little bit of work I've accomplished since well after the weather broke...but it took something new to get me to post.  While walking the yard, I spotted--pretty much, right there in front of me--a Baltimore oriole nest!

I've seen the birds here for a few years--I even got a shot of the male once or twice.  I strongly suspected that they were nesting here, but despite searching, I never spotted their nest.  Until last year, mid-winter, I spotted the remains of one in the bare branches of the huge black poplar.  So, to know the location of their nest now is thrilling to me.  I can stand on the edge of the field and be almost level with the nest which is in a tree in the mid-section of the ("three-tiered") property just a little downhill from the (planned) meadow.  Hopefully, I'll always have a clear shot of the nest...or at least get shots of the parents on the branch even if the nest becomes more obscured.

I'm looking forward to documenting the raising of another species of bird on the property! :)


2 comments:

Rebecca said...

Lucky you! One of our neighbors saw an oriole a few years ago, but we've never spotted one in the yard.

David said...

Thanks, Rebecca.

I do feel very fortunate. I'm thrilled to have found the nest...and I hope to get to witness (and photograph) a lot of the parents, and hopefully, the fledglings too.

It seems to me I saw a male oriole for the past 3 years. I really can't be sure which birds were here before I made any changes to improve the habitat of our two acres...the only ones I feel pretty confident that started nesting here after we arrived are the bluebirds. I saw them the first winter we were here, and by spring I had a birdbox or two up...they've nested here ever since.

I'm very excited to add more species to my biodiversity list (not an actual list yet).