Tuesday afternoon after clocking out from work I went out and did some shoveling of all the slush/mushy snow left from the 4-5" of snow then 1.5-2" of rain that morning. I cleared the driveway as well as all the roof dumpage areas such as the front porch steps and the path from the back stairs and fence gate. (as an aside, we are supposed to get a very similar storm tonight into tomorrow).
My quirk is that I use my back door almost exclusively (okay, there are reasons but they are boring and you don't care). As I got onto the upper level of the back porch and reaching for the storm door handle, I was looking to see what birds were at the feeders. At first I thought there were none, then I saw a bright flash of color out by the fence. Then it was gone, then I thought I saw it again.
I grabbed my binoculars and could see the tip of a bright orange tail sticking out to the side of a tall cake feeder. Then I could see a head on the other side that looked black (although it was shaded and cloudy in the late afternoon, so it was hard to tell). That feeder is big enough I thought for the longest time it was two separate birds. Then, it moved to the left side and much to my surprise it was a Baltimore Oriole. Sorry for the bad pics, but my phone was at 10x and that is the best I could do under the circumstances.
This next picture shows the orange all the way down the tail a bit better than the 1st pic
I was was surprised it was eating seeds. But then I remembered I had just replaced that cake the afternoon before. So I dug in the trash to find the wrapper, and this explains why he was hunting and pecking in different areas of that cake
And of course the biggest surprise was that he was here at all. Baltimore Orioles will summer in NH, but normally don't winter here. From All About Birds:
Migration
Medium- to long-distance migrant. Baltimore Orioles spend summer and winter in entirely different ranges. From early April to late May, flocks arrive in eastern and central North America to breed from Louisiana through central Canada. They start to leave as early as July for wintering grounds in Florida, the Caribbean, Central America, and the northern tip of South America.
I did report the sighting for a rare bird as well as posting of FB a couple of places. Apparently a couple of others were also sighted (from comments on the local TV ulocal FB page). Wonder if it (or they) got blown in by the strong winds of the storm and made the best of the situation.
I haven't seen him since then - but that tells us absolutely nothing since I don't watch the feeders all day and he could be either headed back south or visiting other areas to feed.
I've frequently wondered why we even bother having "front" doors.
Great sighting and observation, Bogie. Who would have thought you would have an Oriole during this time of year and your weather? I find your first photo to be great!
Posted by: Cop Car | January 12, 2024 at 09:03 AM
I have seen the oriole a couple more times since the pictures were taken - both on Sunday and Monday.
Posted by: bogie | January 16, 2024 at 03:46 AM
It’s hangin in there.
Posted by: Cop Car | January 16, 2024 at 12:11 PM