So far this year I’ve had Baltimore and Orchard Orioles at my grape jelly feeder. There is also a pair of Grey Catbirds nesting near the feeder and they also like the jelly. The occasional Rose-breasted Grosbeaks also stop at the jelly feeder. The Orioles are not happy when other birds are feeding at “their” feeder.
Baltimore Orioles
Orchard Oriole
Grey Catbird
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
It has been a strange year. Normally the orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds all turn up at my feeders at the same time. This year the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks turned up and it wasn’t until a couple of weeks later that the Baltimore Orioles turned up. The next week the hummingbirds turned up. The males of the species always turn up first and withing a week the females turn up. The Baltimore Orioles far outnumber the Orchard Orioles.
Baltimore Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Orchard Oriole
Orchard Oriole
A pair of Grey Catbirds had a nest near the feeders and they are frequent visitors to the Grape Jelly feeder.
Grey Catbird
Baltimore Orioles are also frequent visitors.
Baltimore Oriole
For a couple of weeks Orchard Orioles turned up at the feeders.
Orchard Oriole
The Red-bellied Woodpeckers also like grape Jelly.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
The last couple of weeks Orchard Orioles turned up at my feeders. The seem to appear just after the young have fledged and typically bring the young to the Grape Jelly feeder. They usually only visit for a short time before disappearing again.
Just as we were about to leave on vacation the orioles and hummingbirds returned for the summer. We only saw a couple of them but knew more would be following. We put out a couple of large containers of grape jelly for the orioles and all of my feeders for the humming birds. When we returned the orioles had eaten all of the grape jelly and the humming birds had just about emptied their feeders. I put out some grape jelly and filled the humming bird feeders but there have only been a few around. Typically they come and eat for a week or two then go off to raise their young. I would expect to see them back in large numbers as summer begins.
Orchard Oriole
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
This past week it was really warm out and the orioles were really interested in taking a bath in my bird bath.
This week we had Orchard Orioles visiting our grape jelly feeder. There were three or four fledglings and and adult male who was feeding them grape jelly.
This fledgling House Sparrow had just finished taking a bath.
A female Orchard Oriole looked a little lonely at my bird feeder.
Nap time for a fledgling House Sparrow.
A Grey Catbird heading for the nest with lunch.
An Eastern Bluebird caught after taking a bath.
A Baltimore Oriole waiting for its turn at the feeder.
Every spring when the Baltimore Orioles return I start feeding them grape jelly. After a couple of weeks they leave to raise their young. Sometimes a few of them will turn up at the jelly feeder during this time but for the most part I don’t see them again until the young fledge.
Orchard and Baltimore Orioles
Once the young fledge, the adults and the young return to the jelly feeder. This has been the pattern for the past several years. This year when they returned there were a large number of them. What differed from past years was that they were frantic. It made me nervous just being around them. Then they started banging into my picture windows. At one point they were hitting the windows five or six times an hour. A couple of them were killed. This had never happened before.
Orchard Oriole
I finally decided that they would be better off if I quit feeding them. I put some food out and when it was gone I did not put any more jelly out. After about a week and a half they were gone from my feeders.
Baltimore Oriole
I then decided to try again so I put a single jelly feeder out. This time only a few of them returned and all was calm. Since then I have had a steady stream of orioles at my feeder but the frantic chaos was no longer present.
Most of the birds are now off raising their young. The Baltimore and Orchard Orioles were at the feeders in large numbers but they have tailed off. Hopefully they are nesting in the area and will return to the feeders with their young.
Baltimore Oriole
Orchard Oriole
The Grey Catbirds are nesting around the house in various evergreen trees and shrubs.
The Chipping Sparrows are also nesting in the same evergreen trees. It might get crowded.
The Woodpeckers are some of the most frequent visitors to my feeding stations. Hopefully they will be bringing their young to the feeders in the near future.
Downy Woodpecker
Red bellied Woodpecker
The Ruby-throated Humming birds are going through about a gallon of sugar water every few days.
More bird photos can be found on my website.
Philip Schwarz Photography Blog 