An immature female Baltimore Oriole visits Le Avian Cafe
Photography and Article by Norma Beaird
My last post was about "Finding Wonder in the New Year".
I have learned that sometimes "wonder" will find you.
We had always hoped that a beautiful Baltimore Oriole would one day show up at the feeding station. We had read in the book, Birds of Georgia, that the Baltimore Oriole is uncommon south of the Fall Line in the winter, whereas they had previously been more common. The area south of the Fall Line is Georgia's Lower Coastal Plain, where we are located. We had heard of sightings in Treutlen County, but had not seen any in our particular area. Therefore, we knew that there was a good chance that one wouldn't show up, even though we continued to hope for a Baltimore Oriole sighting.
One year, we saw an Orchard Oriole perched in a tree in the backyard, but never the Baltimore Oriole. On January 2nd, I walked to the kitchen window and there she was.....a beautiful female Baltimore Oriole. We grabbed the camera and began snapping away. She seemed to adapt to the feeding station quite well as she began to eat the food on the buffet. On the buffet, we had black oil sunflower, shelled sunflower and unsalted peanuts. She would hop from one area to another, looking for food.
We had read that Baltimore Orioles have two favorites at a feeding station, grape jelly and oranges. We went to the grocery store and bought both. It turns out that she really loved the orange. For a few days, she was averaging a half an orange a day. Now, she's moved on to our Peanut Butter Tree Spread. I have to say that she is not a picky eater.
Chef Curtis has prepared exquisite cuisine for Susie Baltimore...
Le Orange Shish Kabob with a delicate peppering of Le Ants
Chef Curtis' dish is a success!
Copyright 2016, Curtis and Norma Beaird. All rights reserved.
